UN: Ukrainian, Russian Forces Use Civilians as Human Shields
The United Nations says Kiev’s and Moscow’s soldiers used elderly and disabled civilians as human shields. In one situation, Ukrainian soldiers hid in a nursing home, provoking an attack that killed dozens of residents.
The report by the UN Office of the High Commissioner says Ukrainian, Russian troops and forces aligned with Moscow are using civilians as human shields. "Both Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups as well as Ukrainian armed forces took up positions either in residential areas or near civilian objects, from where they launched military operations without taking measures for the protection of civilians present," it concludes.
The report detailed one incident of Kiev’s soldiers using human shields in Ukraine’s Donbas region shortly after the Russian invasion. According to the UN Office of the High Commissioner, the residents of a nursing home in the Luhansk region were unable to evacuate because Ukrainian forces mined the roads around the facility.
