Geneva, February 12 (QNA) – UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk today called on Russia to halt its attacks on Ukraine’s power grid, noting that “Civilians, who have faced continual bombardment, are now forced to brave freezing cold, as temperatures plummet to minus 20 degrees Celsius.”
In a statement, Turk explained that the “relentless attacks by the Russian Federation on energy infrastructure across Ukraine are depriving an already long-suffering civilian population of adequate warmth, water and electricity in an unbearably bitter and dark winter – one of the coldest in Ukraine in recent years.”
The targeting of civilian infrastructure is prohibited under international humanitarian law, Turk said noting the consequences of such strikes are disastrously widespread, impacting all aspects of civilian life, as millions of households struggle with only a few hours of electricity each day; unheated classrooms have forced schools to shut; and access to medical care has been hampered.
Earlier today, the Russian defense ministry announced that its forces had targeted Ukrainian energy and military industry centers using precision weapons.