Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Liudmyla Denisova says that Russian troops shot at a column of volunteers near Chernihiv, as a result of which one person killed and four were severely wounded.

"Russian militants shot at a convoy of volunteers near Chernihiv. Five buses came under targeted enemy fire when they tried to drive into the encircled city to evacuate people. Only civilian volunteers were on the bus. As a result of the shelling, one person was killed, four were severely wounded," Denisova said on Facebook.

She said that one of the buses managed to escape on punctured tires, but the driver was wounded, he was taken to the hospital.

"Russian forces do not give the slightest opportunity to take the civilian population out of besieged Chernihiv, in fact holding tens of thousands of people as hostages, without food, water, heat. At the same time, every day they target residential areas with heavy artillery," the ombudsman said.

She said that such actions constitute yet another war crime and a crime against humanity of the Russian troops under Articles 7 and 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

"I appeal to the UN Commission of Inquiry into Human Rights Violations during the Russian military invasion of Ukraine and the expert mission established by the OSCE participating States in accordance with the Moscow Mechanism, to take into account these facts of the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity and violations of human rights in Ukraine by the Russian Federation" Denisova said.