There has been war in Ukraine for two weeks. A nursing home in the Luhansk region is being attacked by a Russian-backed rebel group.
Many elderly and disabled patients are locked up without access to water or electricity.
The nursing home is located in the village of Stara Krasnjanka. The attack triggers a fire that spreads throughout the building. Several of the patients die. A few patients and staff survive. They get out into a nearby forest.
Ukraine accuses Russia of killing civilians in a brutal and unprovoked attack on the nursing home.
Now a UN report concludes that Ukraine and is partly to blame for the attack.
Much of the responsibility
According to the report it turns out that Ukraine also has a large part of the responsibility.
A few days before the attack, Ukrainian soldiers had stationed themselves in the nursing home. Thus, the building became a military target.
At least 22 of the 71 patients survived. How many died in the attack is still unknown.
There were also 15 employees at the nursing home.
The report points out that the struggle for the nursing home is an example of the UN’s concern about the use of civilians as human shields in acts of war.
Before and after the attack on the nursing home located in Luhansk, eastern Ukraine.
AP/Maxar Technologies
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Civilians cannot be targets
Ukraine must also respect the international law of war. That’s what David Crane says. He is a former employee of the United States Department of Defense. He is also a veteran of the investigation of countless cases of war crimes around the world.
He says that Ukraine may have been guilty of violating international law by not evacuating the nursing home.
– The most important thing is that civilians can not be conscious targets for attacks. Dot. Whatever the reason, Crane says.
– The Ukrainians placed them in a situation that was a killing zone. You can not do that, he continues.
Together with the broadcasting company PBS, the AP has a long list of documented attacks in Ukraine that are probably war crimes.
Russia represents a large majority. But a handful, including the nursing home in Stara Krasnjanka, show that Ukrainian soldiers are also guilty.
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