UN Photo  /  United Nations  Secretary-General António Guterres (file photo).

By  Gary   Raynaldo    DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

UNITED  NATIONS   –   NEW  YORK  –    UN Secretary-General António Guterres strongly condemned an attack on a school in Bilohorivka, eastern Ukraine, where many people were sheltering from the ongoing fighting.  According to news sources, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that around 60 people were killed after a bomb hit the school.  Bilohorivka is close to the Government-held city of Severodonetsk.  Secretary-General António Guterres said the attack was “appalling”, according to his spokesperson. 

“The Secretary-General is appalled by the reported attack on 7 May which hit a school in Bilohorivka, Ukraine, where many people were apparently seeking shelter from the ongoing fighting.  This attack is yet another reminder that in this war, as in so many other conflicts, it is civilians that pay the highest price.   The Secretary-General reiterates that civilians and civilian infrastructure must always be spared in times of war. This war must end, and peace must be established in line with the Charter of the United Nations and international law.   The United Nations and its humanitarian partners in Ukraine will continue supporting those whose lives have been shattered by war.”

-Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General

UN Chief Visits UKRAINE – Says War Is “Evil” and Unacceptable

UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe)   UN Secretary-General António Guterres visits Irpin in Ukraine April 28, 2022

Last month,   the Secretary General of the UN visited Ukraine on and walked the streets of its war-torn capital city Kyiv. Guterres visited sites of suspected war crimes in Ukraine, where he condemned the “evil” acts committed against civilians and urged criminal accountability. Guterres urged Russia “to accept to cooperate” with the ongoing investigation launched by the International Criminal Court, the ICC.  

After Saturday’s attack, the UN chief again reiterated that civilians and civilian infrastructure “must always” be spared in times of war. 

UN Chief Welcomes New Evacuees From Mariupol 

Guterres issued a second statement welcoming the arrival on Sunday of a new group of more than 170 civilians into Zaporizhzhia from the Azovstal steelworks and other areas of Mariupol. The successful evacuation operation was coordinated by the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

“My thoughts are with them and all the people in Ukraine who are suffering in this war,” said the UN chief.