The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Edited News , Press Conferences | OHCHR , UNOG
Ukraine: UN rights chief condemns deadly strike in Hroza - OHCHR
“The appalling scenes from the village of Hroza in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine underscores once again the terrible price civilians are paying 20 months after Russia’s invasion.
According to the local authorities, 52 people were killed when what appeared to be a Russian missile struck a café in the village, where people had gathered for a wake,” Throssell said.
So far, our colleagues in the Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) have established the names of 27 people who were killed – 15 women and 12 men, and of three women and one man who were injured. One Ukrainian soldier who was attending his father’s funeral was among those killed, according to the authorities.
“What is clear is that the strike is one of the deadliest since 24 February 2022 but of course far from being the only one. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, who saw for himself the horrific impact of such strikes, is profoundly shocked and condemns this act. He has deployed a field team to the site to speak to survivors and gather more information,” she said.
“Before the Russian invasion, the village’s population was about 300. It is not clear how many residents were still living there, but it is clear that with the high number of people killed, everybody in this small community has been affected. We know at least eight families had more than one relative killed in the attack,” the spokesperson said.
“We stress once again that international humanitarian law, in particular the rules on conduct of hostilities must be strictly respected,” she said.
ENDS
For more information and media requests, please contact:
In Geneva
Ravina Shamdasani - + 41 22 917 9169 / ravina.shamdasani@un.org or
Liz Throssell + 41 22 917 9296 / elizabeth.throssell@un.org or
Jeremy Laurence + +41 22 917 9383 / jeremy.laurence@un.org or
Tag and share
Twitter @UNHumanRights
Facebook unitednationshumanrights
Instagram @unitednationshumanrights
- Exterior shot: Palais des Nations, Geneva.
- Soundbite (English)— Liz Throssell UN Human Rights Spokesperson, (OHCHR): “The appalling scenes from the village of Hroza in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine underscores once again the terrible price civilians are paying 20 months after Russia’s invasion. According to the local authorities, 52 people were killed when what appeared to be a Russian missile struck a café in the village, where people had gathered for a wake,”
- Cutaways: Briefing room
- Soundbite (English)— Liz Throssell UN Human Rights Spokesperson, (OHCHR): “What is clear is that the strike is one of the deadliest since 24 February 2022 but of course far from being the only one. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, who saw for himself the horrific impact of such strikes, is profoundly shocked and condemns this act. He has deployed a field team to the site to speak to survivors and gather more information.”
- Cutaways: Briefing room
- Soundbite (English)— Liz Throssell UN Human Rights Spokesperson, (OHCHR): “Before the Russian invasion, the village’s population was about 300. It is not clear how many residents were still living there, but it is clear that with the high number of people killed, everybody in this small community has been affected. We know at least eight families had more than one relative killed in the attack.”
- Soundbite (English)— Liz Throssell UN Human Rights Spokesperson, (OHCHR): “We stress once again that international humanitarian law, in particular the rules on conduct of hostilities must be strictly respected,”
- Soundbite (English)— Liz Throssell UN Human Rights Spokesperson, (OHCHR): “
Cutaways: Briefing room
Cutaways: Briefing room
Cutaways: Briefing room
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | UNMAS
Demining experts from around the world have been sharing their collective shock at the widespread and growing threat from unexploded ordnance, the new head of the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) said on Wednesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office in Syria conducted a 5-day visit to the northeast of the country where they received accounts of human rights violations and abuses.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
Sudan: ‘History repeating itself’ for Darfur’s children - UNICEF
Mass atrocities in Sudan’s Darfur 20 years ago reverberated as far as Hollywood, but today, a new generation of children faces attacks, hunger and displacement in an emergency largely ignored by the outside world, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | OHCHR , UNICEF , IFRC
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) at Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by spokespersons and representatives of the United Nations Children’s Fund, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the International Labour Organization, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction and the International Federation of the Red Cross.
1
1
Edited News | WHO , UNMAS
Desperate and dangerous conditions in Gaza continue to hamper recovery efforts for the wartorn enclave's people, the UN health agency said on Friday, while demining experts warned that they’ve “barely scratched the surface” in assessing the level of contamination of unexploded ordnance.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | UNICEF , WFP , FAO , WHO , IFRC , OHCHR , IOM , WMO
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by the spokespersons and representatives of UNICEF, WFP, FAO, WHO, IFRC, OHCHR, IOM and WMO.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | UNMAS
UNMAS update on:
- Ridding the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Ukraine of explosive hazards and landmines
- Children and Blast Injuries Report - The devastating impact of explosive weapons on children 2020–2025
- Legacy Contamination in the Solomon Islands
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News
The continued support of UN Member States to Lebanon will be “indispensable” to boost the country’s national armed forces and provide humanitarian assistance with more than one million people still uprooted by the Middle East war, the UN's peacekeeping chief said on Wednesday.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | UNECE
Middle East war: After oil and gas shortages, concerns grow over critical minerals crunch
The shipping crisis in the Strait of Hormuz caused by war in the Middle East has exposed a new threat: a looming shortage of strategic minerals needed to drive economies all over the world and a race by countries to obtain them.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | UNITED NATIONS
The Co-Chairs of the Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance, Egriselda López, Permanent Representative of El Salvador to the UN and Rein Tammsaar, Permanent Representative of Estonia to the UN, together with Amandeep Gill, UN Under-Secretary-General and Special Envoy for Digital and Emerging Technologies, brief the media in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM
Millions of desperate Sudanese return home amid dire conditions as war rages – IOM
Three years into the devastating conflict in Sudan, nearly four million displaced people have returned to their places of origin across the country, only to face “another struggle for survival”, the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | UNECE , IOM , WMO , UNMAS , UNESCO
Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing, which was attended by the Co-Chairs of the Global Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence Governance, the Special Envoy for Digital and Emerging Technologies, the Deputy Director-General of the International Organization for Migration, as well as the spokespersons and representatives of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, the World Meteorological Organization, the United Nations Mine Action Service, the International Organization for Migration, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and the Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining.