Ukraine enduring worst attacks since onset of war, says UN

About 10,810 civilians have been killed since February 2022, world body says

Russian soldiers at an undisclosed location in Ukraine. Ukraine has accused Russia of carrying out bombings and then hitting the same site again once emergency personnel are on site. AP

Ukraine is currently enduring some of the worst attacks since the start of this war, the UN said on Thursday.

“Not a day passes without air strikes shattering the lives of yet more families across the country,” UN official Edem Wosornu told the 15 members of the UN Security Council, speaking on behalf of humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths.

No region of Ukraine has been spared in the war, she added.

According to the UN, about 10,810 civilians have been killed and more than 20,550 injured since February, 2022.

In recent weeks, Ukraine has accused Russia of carrying out bombings and then hitting the same site again once emergency personnel are on site.

Ms Wosornu said that at least 14.6 million people, 56 per cent of them women and girls, require urgent humanitarian assistance.

Miroslaw Jenca, the UN's assistant Secretary General for Europe, said “the current trajectory of escalation of this war is a direct threat to regional stability and international security”.

“Most of all, it is an existential threat to the people of Ukraine,” Mr Jenca said, making specific reference to attacks on Ukraine's energy installations.

The US deputy ambassador to the UN Robert Wood accused Moscow of attacking Ukraine’s power generation facilities as well as its electricity grid in an attempt to destroy grain and food products.

“Ukraine continues its efforts to feed the world's most vulnerable … such as Ethiopia, Somalia, Yemen, Nigeria, Sudan and Kenya,” said Mr Wood.

“Ukrainian grain is also destined for Gaza.”

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The “complicated and protracted” conflict is a cause for concern, said China’s representative.

“There are no winners in conflicts or wars, dialogue and negotiation represent the only viable way out of the Ukraine crisis,” Geng Shuang said.

Switzerland announced on Wednesday that a high-level conference on the Ukraine conflict would be held in mid-June but without Russia.

Ukraine and up to 100 countries would attend the conference at the Burgenstock resort near the central city of Lucerne, hosted by the Swiss President Viola Amherd.

Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova criticised the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s “peace formula” which calls for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory, financial reparations from Moscow and the creation of a special tribunal to judge Russian officials.

“It is common knowledge that the 'Zelenskyy formula' does not envisage compromises or alternatives and totally ignores the proposals of China, Brazil, African and Arab states,” Ms Zakharova said.