Amnesty International's assessment that Ukraine 'puts civilians at risk' sparks outrage

The human rights group accused the Ukrainian military of establishing bases and weapon systems in schools and hospitals.

The director of Amnesty International's office in Ukraine resigned on Friday in protest at a lengthy statement by the wider organization accusing Ukrainian soldiers of employing warfare tactics that endanger civilians.

In what it called an "extensive press release," the group said Thursday that "Ukrainian forces endangered civilians by establishing bases and operating weapon systems in populated residential areas, including schools and hospitals."

News of the statement sparked an internal debate at Amnesty International and sparked widespread and near-universal condemnation in Ukraine, which is defending itself against a Russian army that has far more firepower, which it has used to decimate areas. cities and to torture and kill thousands of civilians.

The press release states that the organization's findings in no way justified described the tactics of Russian forces and that Amnesty International had previously documented Russian war crimes, but that was not enough to appease the group's critics, including its Ukrainian director, Oksana Pokalchuk.

"If you don't live in a country that has been invaded by occupiers tearing it apart, you probably don't understand what it is to condemn the military in defense," she wrote in a Facebook post announcing her resignation after seven years with the organization. "And there's no word in any language that can explain it to someone who hasn't felt that pain."

She also feared that the statement, which was prepared in the group's main office, not by its Ukrainian branch, would be used and abused by the Kremlin. "The organization unwittingly created material that looked like it was supporting Russian stories," Ms Pokalchuk said. “Seeking to protect civilians, this research has instead become a tool of Russian propaganda. label="media" role="group">ImageUkrainian soldiers watch as emergency crews clear the rubble of a house hit by multiple rocket attacks near Sloviansk in eastern Ukraine this month last.Credit...Mauricio Lima for The New York Times

Internally, some employees said that while it was important to report potential Ukrainian violations of privacy laws war and practices that could endanger civilians, the charges presented in the declaration and their wording were too vague. That's partly because the rules on soldiers carrying out their duties from civilian areas are murky, analysts say. Terrorist state and shifting the responsibility from the aggressor to the victim. Thursday. "And if someone makes a report where the victim and the perpetrator are allegedly the same in something, if some data about the victim is analyzed and what the perpetrator was doing at the time is ignored, that cannot be tolerated."

The statement highlighted the issues raised by Ukrainian forces fighting in urban settings, one of the most destructive forms of warfare. In the five months since Russia invaded Ukraine, the country's cities have become the center...