The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine highly appreciates the efforts of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine on unbiased and meticulous documentating of gross human rights violations, committed by Russia on territory of Ukraine in the course of its armed aggression against our state. 

The detailed publication “Sustained large-scale attacks by Russian armed forces killed and injure civilians across Ukraine in April”, released on April 24 was another important step in documenting Russian war crimes. 

According to the UN-verified data, from 1st to  24th  April of 2025, at least 848 civilian casualties were recorded, of which 151 were killed and 697 were injured – this is a 46 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2024. 

Special attention was paid to the barbaric, massive and planned attack carried out by Russia on April 24 against Kyiv and at least eight other regions of Ukraine. 

The facts outlined in the OHCHR publication are only part of Russia’s systematic and deliberate terror against Ukrainian civilians. The use by Russian Federation’s of missiles, drones and other indiscriminate weapons in densely populated urban areas is a gross violation of international humanitarian law. 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs calls on international community to respond firmly to Russia’s shelling, by increasing sanctions pressure on the aggressor state; speeding up the delivery of air defence systems to protect of civilians in Ukrainian cities and towns; increasing resources for international monitoring mechanisms which document war crimes; and supporting the work of the International Criminal Court and other legal instruments to bring the perpetrators of these crimes to justice. 

We reiterate that Ukraine seeks an end to the war and is committed to peace efforts led by the United States and involving the European partners. On March 11 in Jeddah, Ukraine agreed to an unconditional and complete 30-day ceasefire. Russia has only stepped-up terror against civilians and brutal strikes on residential areas of Ukrainian cities, instead of taking real steps towards peace. 

This proves once again that Russia is the sole source of this war and the only power, that seeks to continue it at all cost. We call for intensification the pressure on Moscow in order to force it to real steps towards just and lasting peace. 

We emphasize that no crime should go unpunished, and that the brutal Russian terror cannot be allowed to normalize. The protection of human rights, life, and dignity is the bedrock of the international legal order that we must jointly defend.