On the 500th anniversary of the Ukraine war, the United Nations described the losses as “horrific”. The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine reported that more than 9,000 civilians, including 500 children, have been killed since the war began on February 24, 2022, although UN officials have previously stated that the actual number is likely much higher.
Noel Calhoun, Deputy Head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, said: “Today we are witnessing another horrific phase of a war that continues to exact a terrible toll on Ukrainian civilians.”
Observers pointed out that the average death toll this year is lower than it was in 2022, but it began to rise again in May and June.
The cities of Bucha, near Kiev, and Mariupol, in the southeast of the country, last year became a symbol of the atrocities of the conflict, in which Russia has been accused of war crimes and genocide.
This coincided with the continuation of the drone war between the two parties, as the Ukrainian Air Force announced that its defenses shot down 5 drones last night. A march was attacked, and two Ukrainian marches were shot down in each of the Russian regions of Belgorod and Voronezh.
Washington had officially revealed (Friday) a new military aid package to Ukraine that includes for the first time cluster munitions, which Moscow considered a sign of desperation, bringing humanity closer to a new world war.
US President Joe Biden said, in an interview with CNN, that he followed the Pentagon’s recommendation regarding supplying cluster munitions to Kiev, and that the decision was very difficult, but it came after discussion with Washington’s allies and with Congress.
Regarding NATO membership, Biden said that he does not believe that there is a consensus in the alliance regarding granting Ukraine membership at the present time.
Biden’s announcement of supplying cluster bombs to Ukraine drew criticism from key Democratic lawmakers. Democrats on the House Rules Committee and the committees that fund the Pentagon and State Department have stressed that providing these weapons, banned by more than 120 countries, is a concession to high moral principles and will ultimately result in the indiscriminate killing of civilians, Politico reported.
Betty McCollum described the Biden administration’s decision to transfer cluster munitions to Ukraine as a grave mistake, stressing that these weapons should be removed from our stockpiles, not dumped in Ukraine. Barbara Lee tweeted on her Twitter account, stressing that she was concerned about this step. Jim McGovern stressed that sending cluster bombs represented a break with NATO allies such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Spain. As Chrissie Hoolahan declared, defying the notion that we should use the same tactics Russia is using, blurring the lines of high morals.
