New York, Europe Brief News – The UN Human Rights Council has overwhelmingly voted on Friday to investigate rights abuses by Russia in Ukraine.
Thirty-two of the 47 UN Human Rights Council members voted in favour of the resolution brought by Ukraine.
Only Russia itself and Eritrea voted against, while 13 countries abstained, including Moscow’s traditional backers China, Venezuela and Cuba.
“The message to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin has been clear: You’re isolated on a global level and the whole world is against you,” Ukrainian ambassador Yevheniia Filipenko told reporters after the vote.
Earlier, Filipenko told the council there was “irrefutable evidence of gross and systematic human rights violations as well as war crimes and crimes against humanity by Russia”.
Russia, which has called its actions since February 24 a “special operation”, has denied targeting civilians in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the move by the UN body, adding that they will use the evidence in international courts”.
Total Death Toll
The overall death toll from the seven-day war is not clear. Neither Russia nor Ukraine has released the number of troops lost.
Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said more than 2,000 civilians have died, though it was impossible to verify that claim.
The UN human rights office has tallied 136 civilian deaths, while acknowledging the actual toll is surely far higher.
Roughly 874,000 people have fled Ukraine. The UN refugee agency warned the number could cross the 1 million mark soon. Countless others have taken shelter underground.
Nearly 875,000 people have fled Ukraine since Russia’s attack less than a week ago, according to the UN.
The UN has also warned that 4 million could leave the country in the coming weeks and months.
More than half (454,000) have fled to Poland. 116,000 have gone to Hungary, 67,000 to Slovakia, 45,000 to Romania and 79,000 to non-EU Moldova, Europe’s poorest country.
