Amnesty International regrets ‘distress and anger’ caused by Ukraine report
- The human rights group sparked outrage with a report that accused Ukraine’s military of endangering civilians by establishing bases in schools and hospitals
- The group said it fully stands by its findings but stressed ‘nothing we documented Ukrainian forces doing in any way justifies Russian violations’
Amnesty International said on Sunday that it “deeply regrets the distress and anger” caused after it alleged Ukrainian forces were flouting international law by exposing civilians to Russian fire.
The rights group said: “We fully stand by our findings”, but stressed “nothing we documented Ukrainian forces doing in any way justifies Russian violations”.
Amnesty sparked outrage in Ukraine with the publication of a report on Thursday that accused the military of endangering civilians by establishing bases in schools and hospitals, and launching counter-attacks from heavily populated areas.
The head of Amnesty’s Ukraine office resigned in protest, accusing the rights organisation of parroting Kremlin propaganda.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said the group had tried to “shift the responsibility from the aggressor to the victim”.
Amnesty’s report listed incidents in which Ukrainian forces appeared to have exposed civilians to danger in 19 towns and villages in the Kharkiv, Donbas and Mykolayiv regions.