“Today’s heinous attack – one of the deadliest against civilians since the full-scale invasion of Russia almost four years ago – underlines once again the urgency of a complete, immediate and unconditional ceasefire in this country, as the first step towards a just, comprehensive and sustainable peace,” his spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, told reporters in New York.
The UN humanitarian in Ukraine, Matthias Schmale, issued a statement expressing his condemnation.
“From Kharkiv in the east to Ternopil and the Ivano-Frankivsk region in the west, families have lost loved ones, suffered injuries and seen their homes destroyed,” he said.
At least a dozen children were among the injured and “their suffering is inconceivable,” he added.
The head of Political Affairs is “horrified”
UN human rights investigators are visiting the affected sites to document the damage, according to a post on social media platform X.
UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo, who is currently in Ukraine, said she was “horrified” by the overnight attack.
“Attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure violate international humanitarian law. They are unacceptable and must end immediately,” he tweeted.
Damage and disruption
The drone and missile bombardment also damaged energy infrastructure, causing emergency power outages and worsening the effects of previous attacks.
Schmale warned that the outages are putting millions of people “at serious risk” as temperatures fall below freezing in some areas of the country.
“This relentless harm to civilians and the destruction of essential civilian infrastructure is unacceptable,” he said, recalling that “international humanitarian law clearly prohibits attacks against civilians and civilian objects vital to their survival.”
He stressed that all measures must be taken to protect civilians and “they should never be a target.”