War Crime at Orikhiv: Russia Accused of Airstrike on a school Killing Four

 On Monday (July 10th), the Governor of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region reported that a Russian airstrike on a school in southern Ukraine had resulted in four casualties the day before. Three women and one man, all in their forties, had died, and eleven other people were injured.

The Governor, Yuriy Malashko, stated that a guided aerial bomb had caused an explosion at the school, though he did not provide evidence. This incident is just one of many that have been attributed to Russia since the full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine in 2022.

In March this year, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of personal responsibility for the abductions of children from Ukraine. Several investigations are being conducted in Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. 

Kremlin says Putin met with Wagner leader days after abortive mutiny https://t.co/QMjLqHKIAK

— Massoud Maalouf (@Massoudmaalouf) July 10, 2023

The International Center for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, located in The Hague, is assisting with these. Zaporizhzhia province is of particular importance to Russia, as it is home to Europe's largest nuclear power plant, which Russian forces seized early in the war.

Retaking the province is one of the targets of a Ukrainian counteroffensive. Russia denies targeting civilian locations, but aerial assaults continue across Ukraine. On Sunday to Monday, the Russians used aircraft, missile systems and heavy artillery to shell residential areas of 6 cities and villages in the Donetsk region, injuring one person.

In Kherson, the regional capital of a province of the same name, a 66-year-old woman was injured. Last month witnessed a brief revolt in which the head of private defense company Wagner repeatedly denounced General Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff of the Russian armed forces, and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu for failing to provide his fighters in Ukraine with ammunition.

On Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry published a video featuring General Gerasimov – the first time he has been seen since the rebellion. In the face of such continued aggression, it is important to remember the innocent lives that have been lost at the hands of Russia.

It is also vital that justice be served and the victims be remembered, and that those responsible for such war crimes be held accountable for their actions.