A new UN report has found that Ukraine's armed forces bear a large share of the blame for an attack on a nursing home that left vulnerable residents trapped in the firing line.
Two weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine in February, Russian forces attacked a nursing home in Stara Krasnyanka, about 580 kilometres south-east of Kyiv.
Dozens of elderly and disabled patients, many of them bedridden, were trapped inside without water or electricity.
The March 11 attack set off a fire that spread throughout the facility, suffocating people who couldn't move.
Ukrainian authorities blamed the attack on Russian forces, accusing them of killing more than 50 vulnerable civilians in a brutal and unprovoked assault.
But the UN report found that a few days before the attack, Ukrainian soldiers took up positions inside the nursing home, effectively making the building a target.
At least 22 of the 71 patients survived the assault, but the exact number of people killed remains unknown, according to the United Nations.
UN report concerned over the use of 'human shields'
The report by the UN's Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said the battle at the nursing home was emblematic of its concerns over the potential use of "human shields" to prevent military operations in certain areas.
The report states that when hostilities drew closer to the nursing home in early March, its management requested repeatedly that local authorities evacuate the residents.
But an evacuation wasn't possible because Ukrainian forces were believed to have mined the surrounding area and blocked roads.
On March 7, Ukrainian soldiers entered the nursing home.
According to the UN, two days later they "engaged in an exchange of fire" with the Moscow-backed separatists, "although it remains unclear which side opened fire first," the report said.
No staff or residents were injured in this first exchange.
On March 11, 71 residents and 15 staff remained in the home with no access to water or electricity. That morning, the "Russian-affiliated armed groups" attacked with heavy weapons.
Russian forces raising 'true hell' in the east
The governor of the eastern Luhansk region, Serhyi Laidai, said Russian forces were this week raising "true hell" in Ukraine's eastern industrial heartland.
Mr Serhyi Haidai said Russia launched more than 20 artillery, mortar and rocket strikes on the region on Friday night local time, and its forces were pressing toward the border with the Donetsk region.
Last week, Russia captured the last major stronghold of Ukrainian resistance in Luhansk — the city of Lysychansk.
Analysts predicted Russia would then pause to rearm and regroup, but this has not yet occurred.
"(The enemy) is still attacking and shelling our lands with the same intensity as before," Mr Haidai said.
Residents urged to flee homes for safety
Ukraine's deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk has appealed to residents of Russian-held territories in the south to evacuate quickly so the occupying forces could not use them as human shields during a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Speaking at a news conference late Friday, Ms Vereshchuk said a civilian evacuation effort was underway for parts of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. She declined to give details, citing safety reasons.
It was not clear how civilians were expected to safely leave Russian-controlled areas while missile strikes and artillery shelling continued in surrounding areas, whether they would be allowed to depart or even hear the government's appeal.
AP
