The Russian missile strike on Kryvyi Rih on 4 April was the deadliest single attack on children in Ukraine since the beginning of Russia’s all-out war, according to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.
A team from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) visited the site on 5 April, documenting the damage and confirming the names of nine children killed in the attack. The investigation is ongoing.
OHCHR has reported that hundreds of fragments from the missile damaged nearby homes, playground swings and slides, as well as trees and the surrounding ground.
“It’s an unimaginable horror — nine children killed, most while playing in a park, as a military weapon exploded into shrapnel above them. A single explosion ended 18 lives on a warm Friday evening in Kryvyi Rih, as families gathered near a playground, a restaurant, and residential buildings,” says Türk.
The Commissioner has condemned Russia’s use of wide-area effect weapons in a densely populated civilian area with no apparent military presence, calling it “reckless disregard for civilian life.”
Türk has also addressed the Russian authorities’ claim that the intended target was a group of Ukrainian soldiers. However, local witnesses told the UN mission that a cosmetology forum had just taken place at the restaurant near the impact zone—a public event that had been promoted online. No military personnel were present, witnesses said.
“Even if the Russian authorities had information that military personnel could be present, the mode and circumstances of the attack may constitute an indiscriminate attack,” the OHCHR statement says.
OHCHR has emphasized that such attacks are prohibited under international humanitarian law and may constitute a war crime.
“I’m begging you, save my son”: father screams in despair as Russian missile kills 9 kids in Ukraine
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