The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Balakrishnan Rajagopal, expressed grave concerns about the serious violations of the right to adequate housing in Ukraine after Russian Federation forces invaded the country. “Indiscriminate use of weapons such as cluster munitions, multiple launch rocket systems, tactical missile systems and artillery systems have been reported in multiple areas of Ukraine including in and around the cities of Chernihiv, Kyiv, Kherson, Mariupol, Okhtyrka, Zhytomyr and several others. Many homes, civilian infrastructure including fuel depots, water and power stations are under attack or threat of attack.”
“The Russian Federation and Ukraine must take all feasible precautions to minimize or avoid such harm, and provide effective advance warning of attacks when such attacks are justified by military necessity. Military forces deployed in cities or densely populated areas must, to the extent feasible, avoid locating themselves near civilian objects, housing and infrastructure, and must avoid shielding behind civilian infrastructure or housing. Forced evictions and displacement are a severe violation of the right to adequate housing, he said.