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UN Observer Report Acknowledges 'Horrifying Number' of Dead in East Ukraine – Russia

© RIA Novosti . Sergey Pivovarov / Go to the mediabankHeavily wounded Ukrainian servicemen
Heavily wounded Ukrainian servicemen - Sputnik International
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A report by UN observers on the conflict in Ukraine has acknowledged a horrifying number of dead among civilians in the country’s east, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in a commentary Friday.

MOSCOW, August 29 (RIA Novosti) – A report by UN observers on the conflict in Ukraine has acknowledged a horrifying number of dead among civilians in the country’s east, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in a commentary Friday.

“Nonetheless, the number of victims and the level of violence in Donbas have reached such a level that the mission was forced to acknowledge the obvious. In particular, UN observers have begun to openly speak about the horrifying number of the dead among civilians, including children, as a result of Kiev’s punitive operation, and on the existence of a humanitarian catastrophe in eastern Ukraine,” his commentary reads.

The report documents, though not fully, the criminal actions of the Ukrainian Army in the country’s eastern regions, including the use artillery and air power in residential areas, mass abductions, detentions, torture and killings, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

The UN report, published Friday, said 2,220 people died and about 6,000 were injured in the Ukrainian crisis between mid-April and August 17.

The report said that intense fighting with heavy artillery from both sides in densely populated regions of eastern Ukraine has led to an average of 36 civilian deaths every day from July 16 through August 17.

The document also stated that more than 1,000 people had been detained in the Donbas Region as of August 16.

In the city of Slaviansk, Donetsk Region, the Interior Ministry opened 86 criminal investigations into cases of kidnapping and disappearance. About 20,000 Donetsk and Luhansk police officers were required to “re-qualify” in order to ascertain if they had been involved in any crimes while under the control of armed groups.

In its report the United Nations urged for a peaceful resolution to the crisis so that a large-scale humanitarian disaster can be avoided.

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