Russia – Ukraine war- havoc on health and human rights

Russia – Ukraine war- havoc on health and human rights:

**Author :- Chhaya, a Student of Saraswati institute of law

Since, Russia’s full- scale invasion in 2022, its war against Ukraine has a disastrous impact on civilian life, killing thousands more and destroying civilian property and infrastructure. Russian forces committed a litany of violation of international humanitarian law, including indiscriminate and disproportionate bombing and shelling of civilian areas that hit homes and healthcare and educational facilities. 

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered an extensive human rights, humanitarian, and displacement crisis. Russian forces conducted indiscriminate attracts, using weapons with wide area effects which resulted in thousands of civilian casualties.

 The war between Russia and Ukraine has had a devastating impact on the health and human rights of Ukrainians. The war has killed thousands of civilians, injured many more, and destroyed civilian property and infrastructure. The UN recorded close to 18,000 civilian casualties in 2022, including at least 6,884 deaths. The war has also had a devastating impact on healthcare provision in Ukraine. The World Health Organization (WHO) has recorded more than 1,100 attacks on Ukraine's healthcare system since the invasion began on February 24, 2022. More than one in 10 Ukrainian hospitals have been directly damaged by the war.

The war has also resulted in massive human rights violations, including:

Sexual violence

Enforced disappearances

Arbitrary detention

Violations of the rights of prisoners of war

The war has also disrupted the global supply of commodities, sharply increased food and energy prices, and threatened the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine

1.  This thirty-fifth report by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on the human rights situation in Ukraine covers the period from 1 August 2022 to 31 January 2023. It is based on the work of the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU).

2. The human rights situation across the country remains dire amid the ongoing armed attack by the Russian Federation against Ukraine. The international armed conflict has led to a wide range of human rights violations affecting both civilians and combatants. 

3. During the reporting period, OHCHR recorded a total of 5,987 civilian casualties, with 1,605 persons killed and 4,382 persons injured. However, actual casualty numbers are likely considerably higher, since these figures only include the cases that OHCHR has been able to verify. 

4. Since October 2022, Russian strikes targeting critical energy infrastructure have killed at least 116 civilians and injured at least 379. They have resulted in serious shortages of electricity, affecting the population’s capacity to face the winter. Moreover, the hostilities have severely impacted civilian infrastructure and housing.

5. During the reporting period, OHCHR documented the killings of 21 civilians by Russian armed forces, both through summary executions and attacks on individual civilians. It also documented 214 cases (185 men, 24 women and 5 boys) of enforced disappearances and arbitrary detentions of civilians in territory of Ukraine that was or remains under the occupation of the Russian Federation. 

6. OHCHR is gravely concerned about the arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance and torture or other ill-treatment of children. During the reporting period, OHCHR documented the enforced disappearances of five boys between 14 and 17 years old by Russian armed forces. The children were all subjected to torture or other ill-treatment, and, in one case, the victim was deported to Belarus.

7. From February 2022 to 31 January 2023, OHCHR documented 133 cases of CRSV (85 men, 45 women, 3 girls), the majority of which took place in territory occupied by the Russian Federation.