"Civilians living close to the contact line… are particularly vulnerable to human rights violations and abuses. Enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment remain deeply entrenched practices… The freedom of movement continues to be severely curtailed, with over 20,000 people trying to cross the contact line each day. The 2.7 million people living in armed group-controlled areas are also suffering from the severe curtailing of their freedoms of expression, assembly and association, and are faced with tough living conditions," the UN report highlights.
The Ukrainian conflict began when Kiev launched a special military operation in Ukraine’s southeast in April 2014, after local residents refused to recognize the new Ukrainian authorities that came to power as a result of a coup.
According to the latest report on Ukraine by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, some 9,371 people have been killed and 21,532 others injured in eastern Ukraine since the conflict began in mid-April 2014.
