At least 35 civilians killed, 137 wounded, over 10,000 displaced: UN on Russian offensive in Kharkiv region

Elizabeth Trossell, a spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said this at a UN briefing in Geneva.

"People who fled these areas along the frontline in the Kharkiv region said they had to hide in cold, dark basements for days on end, without electricity during intense aerial bombardment, drone and missile strikes, and artillery shelling. Numerous homes and other civilian infrastructure were destroyed. Entire communities have been uprooted and destroyed, and more than 10,000 people have been displaced to date," said Trossell.

Among those killed or wounded in the northern Kharkiv region, where the fighting was most intense, most of the dead were over 60 years old.

"This reflects the disproportionate number of older people in border and frontline areas who in many cases were either unable or unwilling to leave their homes, even in the face of the rapidly deteriorating security situation," said the OHCHR spokesperson.

Since May 10, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) has interviewed 90 displaced civilians and visited several places that have been attacked.

"Some were unable to get to shelters or even get to the basement. People said they saw their neighbors killed or wounded. Some said that the situation was so bad that they decided to risk walking several kilometers to get to the evacuation site. Local authorities and volunteers took serious risks to help vulnerable people get to safety. On May 16, two medical workers, two ambulance drivers and a local official were injured while trying to evacuate civilians from the village of Buhaivka," Trossell said.

The HRMMU visited a recreation center in the village of Cherkaska Lozova, which was struck twice by Russia on May 19 in less than half an hour. The monitors documented at least 6 civilians killed and dozens of civilians injured.

Elizabeth Trossell also recalled the massive missile attack on Kharkiv on June 23, which killed 7 civilians and injured 21 others.

"We reiterate our call on the Russian Federation to strictly comply with all international laws of warfare and to immediately cease its attacks on Ukraine. In the third year of the Russian Federation's full-scale armed attack on Ukraine, with no end in sight, lives, homes and futures continue to be destroyed. The long-term impact of this war in Ukraine will be felt for generations as the task of rebuilding devastated communities, already an enormous undertaking, grows with each passing day of violence and destruction," Trossell emphasized.

• On May 24, Colonel Ihor Prokhorenko, a representative of the Main Operational Directorate of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ General Staff, said that the Defense Forces had stopped Russian troops in the Kharkiv sector and were conducting counteroffensives.