UN warns of potential war crimes in Ukraine

Russia's use of explosives with wide area effects in or near populated areas

Russia's use of explosives with "wide area effects in or near populated areas, including missiles, heavy artillery shells and rockets as well as airstrikes" could amount to war crimes, the UN's human rights monitoring mission for Ukraine has said.

Qazet.az reports that the head of the UN human rights mission in Ukraine, Matilda Bognor, cited two specific examples: An attack on a school in Chernihiv, and the attack on the maternity hospital in Mariupol.

The UN also has reports of Russian forces shooting at and killing civilians who were trying to evacuate by car, and of civilians being killed during peaceful assemblies.