The report of the international organization Amnesty International, which accused the Armed Forces of Ukraine of creating danger for civilians, was based on the testimony of people who were under pressure in the occupied territories.
This was announced by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security under the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy.
It is indicated that journalists and volunteers were involved in the collection of data and testimonies both in free territories and in occupied territories. The report included testimonies of people who were evacuated to temporarily uncontrolled territories of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts or Crimea. The Center indicates that they provided most of the materials for the report.
"In particular, the material was collected on the territory of infiltration camps and prisons, the survey was conducted among those who are "willing" to provide this kind of information," the department says.
The Center notes that the information disclosed should not have been included in the report at all, as these people were under the supervision and pressure of the Russian security forces. In addition, the occupiers checked the collected materials.
- On August 4, Amnesty International published a report in which it accused the Ukrainian army of violating humanitarian law and creating danger for civilians by placing military bases in residential areas, schools and hospitals.
- In response, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine called the report unfair, and the adviser to the head of the Office of the President, Mykhailo Podoliak, added that the only ones who put Ukrainian civilians at risk are the Russian troops.
- Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov called Amnesty Internationalʼs report evidence of a "loss of adequacy" and an attempt to destroy its own authority.
- The head of the Ukrainian office of Amnesty International, Oksana Pokalchuk, resigned, and the head office of the organization was hit by a flurry of criticism.
- On August 7, Amnesty International apologized, but General Secretary Agnes Callamar said that the organization had been attacked by Ukrainian and Russian "trolls" on social networks. After that, Ukrainians launched a flash mob calling for Callamarʼs resignation.