Russian occupiers hold Chernihiv hostage, cut city off from Kyiv - Ombudswoman
Russian troops, having destroyed the bridge across the Desna River, have turned Chernihiv into their hostage, and they plan to "evacuate" local residents to Kursk region, Liudmyla Denisova, Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for Human Rights, has said.
"Today, Chernihiv has remained completely cut off from the Ukrainian capital. The invaders bombed the bridge across the Desna River, which transported humanitarian aid to the city and evacuated civilians. There is no electricity, water, heat and almost no gas in the city, the infrastructure has been destroyed," Denisova said on Telegram on Wednesday.
She stressed: "According to information from local residents, the occupiers are compiling lists of civilians for "evacuation" to Lgov (Kursk region of the Russian Federation). The Russians, having cut off Chernihiv from the capital, turned it into their hostages."
Also, according to the Ombudsman, in Trostianka, Sumy region, captured by Russian troops, there is no way to get to the hospital, get medical care, women give birth at home.
"The hospital was shelled repeatedly. The occupiers stole the last emergency medical car and it is simply physically impossible to provide medical assistance to people who cannot get to the hospital on their own," the report says.
Denisova stressed that the fire that broke out at night in Trostianka cannot be extinguished, the invaders do not allow firefighters to reach the fire.
Denisova said villages of the Krasnopil community in Sumy region are also under siege.
"The occupiers go from house to house, take away mobile phones, things and food, occupy schools, houses and drive people right out into the street. The invaders force people to go to Russia on foot, but the locals refuse under threat of reprisals," the she said.
"Terrorizing civilians is a war crime, defined by the statute of the International Military Tribunal and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, a violation of the norms of the Geneva Convention for the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War," Denisova said.
