On November 28, 2022, in Chernihiv, Ukraine, people receive food from the AFAT – Office of the President of Disaster and Emergency Management.
Jeff J. Mitchell | Getty Images
WASHINGTON — Russian occupying forces in Ukraine are starving civilians by targeting food supply lines, agricultural harvests and water infrastructure, according to a team of international lawyers helping Kiev investigate alleged war crimes.
Investigators have focused on the city of Chernihiv, which was under siege for more than two months before Russian troops were driven out of the northern Ukrainian city.
Catriona Murdoch, a lawyer and expert on hunger-related crimes, described Chernihiv as “the tip of the iceberg in (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s elaborate plan to terrorize, subjugate and kill the Ukrainian people.” “.
The new report, which took six months to prepare and was released on Thursday, details routine Russian attacks in areas where civilians have gathered to receive humanitarian aid and food supplies.
“I think our current conclusion is that we think it would certainly violate international humanitarian law,” Murdoch, a partner at international human rights law firm Global Rights Compliance and head of the Hunger Portfolio, told CNBC.
“The more information we collect and analyze, the more confident we can say,” added Murdoch, who leads a mobile judicial team of international lawyers and investigators supporting Ukraine’s prosecutor general’s office in dealing with hunger. crime.
Mobile Justice Team is Atrocity Crimes Advisory Groupfunded by the US State Department, EU and UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Offices.
The Kremlin has previously denied that its forces have committed war crimes or deliberately targeted civilians and related critical infrastructure. The Russian embassy in Washington, D.C., did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
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The report details one such incident outside a supermarket on the morning of March 16, 2022, which left at least 20 civilians dead.
About 90 people were waiting in line near the Soyuz grocery store when a wide-reaching explosive was detonated, the report said. According to the lawyer, the Soyuz will be known as a place to collect bread if the store is closed.
The lawyers identified the heavy artillery weapon system that may have been used in the Soyuz attack and found evidence of Russian drone operations in the area, possibly providing images that directed Russian fire.
The ensuing attack, which took place at a nearby hospital, “significantly disrupted power supplies, thereby creating a challenging environment for treating the wounded or dead,” the report said.
Lawyers and investigators also found that infrastructure related to Chernihiv’s water supply was targeted by aerial bombing.
Elsewhere in Ukraine, investigators have found Russian forces prioritizing harvest theft and destroying farm machinery.
Murdoch, who recently returned from Chernihiv, added that she was confident the perpetrators could be identified.