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After the Russian attack on Chaplyne, the UN coordinator called on “both sides” to follow international law. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine reacted

Author:
Anna Kholodnova
Date:

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine is disappointed by the lack of a clear position of the office of the UN humanitarian coordinator in Ukraine, Denise Brown, regarding the Russian missile attack on the railway station in Chaplyne on August 24, as a result of which 25 civilians, including two children, were killed.

This was written by the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Oleg Nikolenko on Facebook.

He recalled that the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation publicly admitted to committing this war crime and added that the appeals of the high representative of the UN to "both sides" to observe international humanitarian law seem detached from reality.

"We expect that the UN structures, to which we are grateful for the organization of humanitarian response, will be able to take advantage of their presence in Ukraine to find out which side should comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law by bombing Chaplyne and other Ukrainian cities and villages," noted Nikolenko.

The UN humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, after the Russian missile attack on the Chaplyne railway station in the Dnipropetrovsk region, called on "both sides" to observe international humanitarian law.

"I am truly shocked by the strikes that killed and injured civilians yesterday near the railway station in Chaplyne, in central Ukraine. Children were killed in this attack, and they died in places where they expected to be safe, in their homes or while traveling with their families. Yes, they should have been safe, but they werenʼt," the coordinator stated in a statement.

She also mentioned the intense shelling of front-line cities, in particular Nikopol and Zelenodolsk in the Dnipropetrovsk region.

"All parties, without exception, must respect their obligations under international humanitarian law and take continued care to preserve civilians and civilian infrastructure so that they are protected, their homes are preserved and basic services are provided," noted Denise Brown.