UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic has said that there are no violations of human rights in Ukraine that would require military intervention by another country to protect them.

Human rights must be protected, but in Ukraine there is no large-scale human rights violation that would require military measures, he said at a press conference in Kyiv on Friday.

Simonovic also stressed the need to thoroughly and impartially investigate all such cases.

He noted that cases of illegal arrests and persecution were currently being reported on Crimea and that armed groups of people who are not natives of this region and have no insignia were operating there.

He said that it was urgently necessary to find out where all kidnapped and missing people were.

Simonovic also noted the concern of the Crimean Tatars about their future.

He noted that he was not able to visit Crimea. He said that Sergei Aksionov, appointed by the Crimean Supreme Council as prime minister of the autonomy, had refused to talk to him over the phone.

Simonovic noted that he would still try to get to Crimea and that in any case, he would remain in Ukraine until Tuesday at the request of the UN Secretary-General.

This is a sign of the UN Secretary-General's concern about the current escalation of the situation in Ukraine, he said.