UN: Ukrainian Forces Took Over Nursing Home And Used Residents As Human Shields, Claimed ‘Atrocities’ When Russia Attacked

A new UN report found that Ukrainian officials ignored a nursing home’s request to evacuate its elderly and disabled residents to safety and instead allegedly mined the surrounding roads and had the military take up positions in the care facility and use its residents as human shields.

When Russia attacked the Ukrainian military’s outpost and allegedly injured or killed many of the residents within that they were using as human shields, the Ukrainians accused Russia of committing war crimes.

In fact, when the residents who survived the attack fled from the building into a nearby forest they were provided with aid by Russian forces.

Investigation finds Ukrainian soldiers took up positions inside a nursing home, “effectively making the building a target,” and separatist fighters gave assistance to patients and staff who fled the home. Somebody at AP might get fired for writing this. https://t.co/yKwRGbMUl0

— Pedro L. Gonzalez (@emeriticus) July 9, 2022

From the AP, “UN says Ukraine bears share of blame for nursing home attack”:

Two weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Russian forces assaulted a nursing home in the eastern region of Luhansk. Dozens of elderly and disabled patients, many of them bedridden, were trapped inside without water or electricity.

The March 11 assault set off a fire that spread throughout the facility, suffocating people who couldn’t move. A small number of patients and staff escaped and fled into a nearby forest, finally getting assistance after walking for 5 kilometers (3 miles).

In a war awash in atrocities, the attack on the nursing home near the village of Stara Krasnyanka stood out for its cruelty. And Ukrainian authorities placed the fault squarely on Russian forces, accusing them of killing more than 50 vulnerable civilians in a brutal and unprovoked attack.

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