Geneva - The relentless attacks by the Russian Federation on energy infrastructure across Ukraine are depriving an already long-suffering civilian population of adequate warmth, water and electricity in an unbearably bitter and dark winter - one of the coldest in Ukraine in recent years.
Civilians, who have faced continual bombardment, are now forced to brave freezing cold, as temperatures plummet to minus 20 degrees Celsius.
Last night, the Russian Federation again carried out a large-scale attack targeting energy infrastructure across Ukraine. Hundreds of thousands of civilians woke up without electricity and heating.
The consequences of such strikes are disastrously widespread, impacting all aspects of civilian life.
Millions of households struggle with only a few hours of electricity each day. Unheated classrooms have forced schools to shut and access to medical care has been hampered. The elderly and people with disabilities are trapped on upper floors of apartment buildings, unable to descend on foot. And as power is painstakingly restored, fresh attacks regularly plunge entire areas again back into darkness.
The targeting of civilian infrastructure is prohibited under international humanitarian law.
I call upon the Russian Federation to immediately cease these attacks.
