Russian troops are using school buses and ambulances to transport soldiers

Russian military forces are using civilian vehicles, including school buses and ambulances, to transport personnel. This was stated by military analyst Dmitry Snegirev, who highlighted possible violations of international humanitarian law.

 

Russian military forces are using civilian vehicles to move personnel and conceal drone control centers.

According to information from the analytical department of the “Prava Sprava” Human Rights Group, fighters from the “Akhmat” unit, linked to Ramzan Kadyrov, are being transported in ambulances, while buses—including school buses—are being converted for use by UAV operators.

The analytical department of the “Prava Sprava” Human Rights Group has obtained video and photographic evidence showing the transport of “Akhmat” unit fighters in medical vehicles.

The occupiers’ use of ambulances to transport personnel may constitute a gross violation of international humanitarian law and, under certain circumstances, may qualify as a war crime.

According to the Geneva Conventions, medical transport is intended exclusively for humanitarian purposes, in particular the evacuation of the wounded and sick, as well as the transport of medical personnel and equipment.

At the same time, the use of the protective status of medical transport or the Red Cross or Red Crescent emblems to conduct combat operations or transport healthy military personnel and weapons is expressly prohibited by Article 37 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions.

Such actions may fall under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court in accordance with the Rome Statute, as they undermine the system of protection for humanitarian missions and pose a threat to medical personnel and the wounded.

At the same time, medical transport enjoys special protection under international humanitarian law. If it is used for actions that cause harm to the enemy beyond the scope of its humanitarian functions, it may, under certain conditions, lose that protection. However, this does not mean that such vehicles automatically acquire the status of a legitimate military target: the relevant determination depends on the circumstances and the norms of international humanitarian law.

Source: FOCUS

In Khmelnytskyi, Russian strikes on the logistics center of the company “Epicenter” destroyed approximately 85% of the goods stored at the facility. Throughout the day, Russian troops attacked the center ten times, causing five large-scale fires; however, no employees were injured.

As a reminder, Russia damaged several energy facilities in Kyiv.

Prior to this, the Russians launched ballistic missiles at Kyiv, with one confirmed hit on a 9-story building.

We should add that late in the evening on October 12, Kyiv’s Left Bank came under attack by ballistic missiles. According to the Mykolaivsky Vanyok channel, the Ukrainian military had no information about the launches, so the alert was issued too late.