The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the EU High Representative, Josep Borrell, and the NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, on Monday 10 October denounced the Russian attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, which left several people dead and injured.
Expressing her “shock” at the “vicious” attacks, Ms von der Leyen said that “again Russia has shown the world what it stands for: terror and brutality”. “Those responsible must be held accountable”, she warned.
Borrell, who spoke to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, said “such acts have no place in the 21st century”. He added that these were “barbaric and cowardly attacks on purely civilian infrastructure (...), targeting innocent civilians on their way to work and school in the morning traffic”. “With these attacks, Russia is aiming to do maximum damage. The indiscriminate targeting of civilians is prohibited by international humanitarian law and constitutes a war crime”, he said.
Mr Stoltenberg also condemned Russia’s “horrific and indiscriminate attacks on civilian infrastructure” in Ukraine.
Attacks which, because of their widespread nature and lack of precautionary measures, “strongly suggest” that they may be qualified as war crimes or crimes against humanity, said Dunja Mijatović, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights.
The organisation’s leaders denounced “serious violations of international humanitarian law” and noted the interim measures imposed by the European Court of Human Rights not to launch attacks on civilians and civilian targets.
They all reiterated that they stood by Ukraine. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant and Véronique Leblanc)