The UN has urged Russia to immediately stop strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. With winter approaching, such attacks threaten the lives of millions of people and could lead to new forced displacement.
This was stated by Kayoko Gotoh, Director of the Europe and Central Asia Division of the UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, during a UN Security Council meeting on Monday, Ukrinform reports.
According to the UN representative, between 30 October and 2 November damage to energy infrastructure left hundreds of thousands of households without electricity. In some places, there was no power for several days. The outages also affected water supplies and the operation of public transport.
Over the past weekend, Russian strikes on energy facilities in eastern Ukraine left a further around 600,000 people without electricity.
Gotoh also drew attention to threats to nuclear safety posed by attacks on energy infrastructure. In particular, the UN is concerned by reports of repeated Russian strikes on substations serving Ukrainian nuclear power plants.
Separately, the UN representative reported a rise in the number of civilian casualties. In September, at least 328 civilians were killed in Ukraine and a further 2,105 people were injured. This is 85% more than in the same period last year.
Overall, since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine has confirmed the deaths of 17,960 civilians, including 874 children. A further at least 57,713 people, including 3,504 children, have been injured.
Gotoh urged the parties to make tangible progress during the planned trilateral talks. She also recalled the UN Secretary-General’s call for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire as a step towards a just and lasting peace in line with international law.
- On 9 November, the UN Security Council convened an emergency meeting on the situation in Ukraine.