UN warns of "fierce" fighting in eastern Ukraine

MADRID, 24 May. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The United Nations has expressed concern on Monday about the fierce fighting reported in eastern Ukraine, in Lugansk, Donetsk and Kharkiv, which is killing, injuring people, and damaging or destroying homes, residential buildings and civil infrastructure.

"In the government-controlled part of Lugansk, local authorities reported that a bridge leading to the administrative center of Sievierodonetsk was destroyed on May 21. This left the partially surrounded city accessible by only one road," he said. explained at a press conference Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for the secretary general, António Guterres.

Although "some people managed to leave" Sievierodonetsk over the weekend, Dujarric warned that local authorities estimate that thousands of civilians "remain in the city affected by the war and require urgent support."

"Our humanitarian colleagues also tell us that shelling and airstrikes were reported in other areas of Ukraine, including in the north, center and south, claiming civilian lives and damaging civilian infrastructure," he added, recalling the parties' obligations. under Humanitarian Law.

On the other hand, this Monday a Ukrainian court sentenced a Russian soldier accused of war crimes to life in prison for the murder of a civilian in the framework of the invasion triggered on February 24, in the first trial in the country for these charges since the start of the war.

Regarding this decision by the Ukrainian Justice regarding the murder of an unarmed civilian, Alexander Shelipov, 62, in the Sumy region, Dujarric stressed that the UN believes that "it is necessary to account for the crimes that may have been committed during the conflict".

Finally, asked about the resignation of Boris Bondarev, a diplomat from the Russian mission to the United Nations headquarters in Geneva --Switzerland--, Dujarric did not comment, arguing that they do not comment "on personal decisions" by diplomats.