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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Isobel Koshiw in Kyiv

Zelenskiy rebukes Amnesty for accusing Ukraine of endangering civilians

Ukrainian soldiers in the kitchen of a local school. Critics said the report ignored Ukraine’s wartime realities.
Ukrainian soldiers in the kitchen of a local school. Critics said the report ignored Ukraine’s wartime realities. Photograph: Viacheslav Ratynskyi/The Guardian

A report by Amnesty International accusing the Ukrainian army of endangering civilians has drawn criticism from western diplomats, including the British and US ambassadors to Ukraine, as the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, attacked its findings.

The report accused the Ukrainian military of putting civilians at risk by positioning themselves in residential areas, saying that soldiers should not be basing themselves in empty schools or repurposing civilian buildings in urban areas as it meant the Russians would target them and civilians would be caught up in the crossfire.

But critics say the report was poorly researched and put together. They argue that the report ignores Ukraine’s wartime realities and draws moral equivalence between Russia, the aggressor, and Ukraine, the victim.

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