Recent Russian military strikes in Ukraine have resulted in injuries and damage to civilian infrastructure, as reported by local officials. In Odesa, two individuals sustained injuries following a nighttime attack that affected both a residential building and commercial properties.
Serhiy Lysak, head of the Odesa military administration, confirmed that the assault led to a fire on the upper floors of a residential building and damage to a store and a service station. Emergency services are currently providing assistance to the injured.
In Dnipro, a fire broke out in an administrative building and damaged vehicles, although no injuries have been reported, according to Oleksandr Hanji, head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration.
Throughout the night, air raid alerts were issued across multiple regions of Ukraine due to the movement of Russian strike drones. By dawn on February 17, these alerts expanded nationwide in response to a missile attack by Russian forces.
The Russian military has been consistently targeting Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure with various weapons, including drones, missiles, and artillery systems. Ukrainian authorities and international organizations have classified these attacks as war crimes, emphasizing their deliberate nature.
Attacks on essential services and healthcare facilities, aimed at depriving civilians of electricity, heating, water supply, communication, and medical assistance, are viewed as indicators of genocidal actions. Legal experts and human rights advocates assert that Russia’s actions during the ongoing conflict encompass all forms of crimes that may qualify as genocide.
Key indicators of genocide, as outlined by the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, include acts intended to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. Such acts can involve killing members of the group, causing serious bodily or mental harm, and deliberately inflicting conditions calculated to bring about the group’s physical destruction.
The Russian government has consistently denied that its military conducts targeted strikes against civilian infrastructure, claiming that its operations are focused on military objectives.
Recent Russian attacks in Ukraine have led to civilian injuries and significant damage to infrastructure. Local officials report ongoing assaults on essential services, raising concerns about potential war crimes.