There is growing evidence of Russian war crimes in Ukraine, including signs of indiscriminate shelling and summary executions, the United Nations human rights office says, adding Ukraine also appeared to have used weapons with indiscriminate effects.
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"Russian armed forces have indiscriminately shelled and bombed populated areas, killing civilians and wrecking hospitals, schools and other civilian infrastructure, actions that may amount to war crimes," the office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said.
UN human rights monitors in Ukraine have also documented what appeared to be the use of weapons with indiscriminate effects, causing civilian casualties, by Ukrainian armed forces in the east of the country, OHCHR said in a statement.
Russia, which describes its incursion as a special military operation to disarm and "denazify" Ukraine, denies targeting civilians or committing any war crimes.
The OHCHR said that from the start of the war on February 24 until April 20, monitors in Ukraine had verified 5264 civilian casualties - 2345 killed and 2919 injured.
Of these, 92.3 per cent were recorded in government-controlled territory and 7.7 per cent in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions controlled by Russian armed forces and affiliated groups, it said.
"We know the actual numbers are going to be much higher as the horrors inflicted in areas of intense fighting, such as Mariupol, come to light," Bachelet said.
"The scale of summary executions of civilians in areas previously occupied by Russian forces are also emerging.
"The preservation of evidence and decent treatment of mortal remains must be ensured, as well as psychological and other relief for victims and their relatives."
During a mission to Bucha on April 9, UN human rights officers documented the unlawful killing, including by summary execution, of around 50 civilians, it said.
They have received more than 300 allegations of killings of civilians in the regions of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Sumy, all under the control of Russian armed forces in late February and early March.
Monitors were looking into allegations of sexual violence by members of the Russian armed forces, and reports that both sides were improperly detaining civilians, the organisation said.
However, asked about allegations of genocide - including by US President Joe Biden - spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said OHCHR had not found information to back this up.
"A lot of these legal qualifications - crimes against humanity and genocide - at the end of the day would be for a court of law to determine," she told an online briefing in Geneva.
"But no, we have not documented patterns that could amount to that."
Australian Associated Press
