We would like to draw the attention to the publication of a thematic report “Civilian Casualties in the Conflict-Affected Regions of Eastern Ukraine” by the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine on November 9. This document covers the period from January 1, 2017 till September 15, 2020. The statistics in that document demonstrates that 657 civilian victims of shellings and light weapons out of 946 (in other words nearly 75 percent) were killed or injured in the non-governmental controlled areas. There are 100 children among the victims. This clearly proves that the main targets of the Armed Forces and the National Guard of Ukraine as well as so-called volunteer units are civilians whom Kiev is punishing for their refusal to accept the 2014 coup d’état.

We strongly urge the bodies of the Council of Europe and its member States to react to this independent report issued by a pan-European international organization. We are convinced that it is a duty of the Council of Europe to make Ukraine stop violations of the right to life in Donbass.