London, UK
Reuters
Older people have suffered and died at a disproportionately high rate since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a UN report showed on Wednesday, with some perishing because they were barred from fetching medicines or leaving basements.
The report compiled by UN human rights monitors showed that about a third of the civilians killed in the first year of the war, or 1,346 of 4,187 documented victims, were over 60.
Elderly people walk in the city centre after a 58-hour curfew, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kherson, Ukraine, on 8th May, 2023. PICTURE: Reuters/Bernadett Szabo/File photo
The toll only includes individuals whose age is known and the real number of victims is much higher, the UN says. About a quarter of Ukraine’s population is elderly.
Russia denies targeting civilians in Ukraine.
In one incident in Yahidne in March, 2022, 10 elderly people died after being blocked for weeks in a school cellar after Russian troops had converted the building into a base, the report said. Others with reduced mobility were unable to get to safety, such as a woman in her mid-60s with an amputated leg who burned to death when her building caught fire after shelling.
Russian checkpoints in Kherson last year also obstructed movements, meaning several older people with diabetes died for want of medication, the report said.
The UN found that older people were hit exceptionally hard by power outages due to Russian attacks on critical infrastructure since October, 2022, that trapped many in their upstairs apartments when their elevators broke down.
Others had to be evacuated in haste, sometimes in wheelbarrows because there was no time to fetch their mobility devices such as crutches or Zimmer frames, it said. Many were left behind.
Those on both sides of the front line have struggled to access their pensions due to the breakdown of postal and banking services, the report said.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization assembly passed a motion on Wednesday condemning Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, including attacks on healthcare facilities.
The motion passed by 80 votes to nine, with 52 abstentions and 36 countries absent.
The Western-led motion, put forward at the UN agency’s annual meeting, also called for an assessment of the impact of Russia’s aggression on the health sector.
Russia had submitted a counter-proposal recognising the health emergency in Ukraine, but making no mention of its own role in the war.
That motion was rejected by the assembly immediately after the first, by 62 votes to 13, with 61 abstentions and 41 countries absent.
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After the votes, the Russian representative told the assembly it was not against the work of the WHO in Ukraine, but it was against the “politicisation” of the body.
Ukraine’s representative said the vote was a “sign of hope” for its citizens in need of health assistance, and a milestone in the continuation of the WHO’s work in the country.
Tensions had been running high in the run up to the twin votes. During speeches that were critical of Russia, Moscow’s envoy interrupted with points of order.
Britain’s ambassador Simon Manley also accused Russia of spreading “disinformation” at the assembly and a Russian official confirmed it had distributed pamphlets accusing Ukrainian forces of attacking medical facilities in parts of the country it controls.
Moscow has consistently denied targeting civilians during what it calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine.
The votes echo last year’s assembly, when two sets of motions were also presented, with the Western-led resolution passing with 88 votes for and 12 against. Abstentions and absence levels were high, as in this year’s vote.
