GENEVA:&nbsp;The United Nations rights chief warned Thursday against a &quot;dangerous escalation&quot; in Ukraine, and Russia&#39;s threats to ramp up attacks, urging both sides to return to the negotiating table. &quot;I strongly urge restraint. Resume negotiations and end the suffering,&quot; Volker Turk said in a statement. His appeal comes days after one of the worst combined missile and drone attacks on Kyiv since <a href="https://pakistantv.com/article/russia-threatens-more-strikes-on-kyiv-urges-foreigners-to-leave-city" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Russia</a> launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than four years ago. It was the latest in a string of large-scale attacks by Russia in recent weeks. The <a href="https://pakistantv.com/article/russia-kills-4-in-massive-ukraine-attack-after-vowing-retaliation" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">UN rights office</a> said 815 civilians had been killed and 4,174 injured in Ukraine in the first four months of 2026 -- a 21% increase in civilian casualties over the same period last year. &quot;As if all these casualty figures weren&#39;t horrifying enough on their own, following these attacks, Russian officials have publicly threatened to increase attacks across Kyiv,&quot; Turk said.&nbsp;Call for avoiding civilian harm&quot;International humanitarian law demands that parties to a conflict take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian harm,&quot; he said. &quot;These are not simply suggestions or recommendations, but binding obligations carrying legal responsibility for those involved.&quot; His office also pointed to an attack by Ukrainian armed forces on an educational complex in the occupied city of Starobilsk on May 21-22, in which Russian authorities say 21 people were killed and 44 injured. &quot;The UN Human Rights Office has conducted a thorough review of publicly-available information, which indicates that the educational facilities were operational at the time of the attack and that civilians -- many of them students -- were killed or injured,&quot; it said. Eighteen of those killed were women, it said, adding that attacks by Ukrainian armed forces had also killed and injured civilians within Russia itself. Turk called on both Russian and Ukrainian authorities to conduct &quot;prompt, independent, and effective investigations and hold those responsible accountable&quot;.

Europe

The UN rights office said 815 civilians had been killed and 4,174 injured in Ukraine in the first four months of 2026 -- a 21% increase in civilian casualties over the same period last year.

UN condemns 'dangerous escalation' in Ukraine war

KYIV: Kyiv said on Saturday that Russia had returned 528 bodies to Ukraine identified as Ukrainian soldiers killed in action, in one of the few areas of cooperation between the warring neighbors. &quot;As a result of repatriation efforts, the bodies of 528 deceased individuals have been returned to Ukraine; according to the Russian side, they may be Ukrainian servicemen,&quot; Ukraine&#39;s prisoners of war center stated on social media, without specifying when the remains were received. Investigators and experts &quot;will take all necessary steps to identify the repatriated deceased&quot;, the center said, a day after Russia and Ukraine exchanged 205 prisoners of war each. Three-day ceasefire Last Friday, US President Donald Trump announced a three-day ceasefire in the conflict from Saturday to Monday, as well as an exchange of 1,000 prisoners from each side. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that Friday&#39;s exchange of prisoners marked the first phase of the swap announced by Trump.<figure class="fr-media"><img src="https://paktv-assets-7d41fab8.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/uploads/d7fe2ba3-9ac2-41f1-9390-2276e563c573-Ukraine.jpg" alt="Ukraine.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib" style="width: 1000px;"><figcaption class="caption-cover-image text-sm text-gray-600 italic">Undisclosed, Ukraine: Released Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) wrapped with Ukrainian national flags hug each other following a prisoner exchange at an undisclosed location, in the Chernihiv region on May 15, 2026, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (File Photo: AFP)</figcaption></figure> Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine more than four years ago, exchanges of prisoners and the remains of fallen fighters have been one of the few areas of cooperation between Moscow and Kyiv.

Last Friday, US President Donald Trump announced a three-day ceasefire in the conflict from Saturday to Monday, as well as an exchange of 1,000 prisoners from each side.

Kyiv says Russia has returned 528 bodies to Ukraine

Reuters

Twenty-three Ukrainian children and adolescents have been brought out of Russian-occupied areas of the country to territory under Kyiv&#39;s control, President Volodymyr Zelensky&#39;s chief of staff said on Thursday. Andriy Yermak, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said the rescue was carried out under the president&#39;s &quot;Bring Kids Back UA&quot; programme aimed at bringing to safe areas children deported to Russia or confined to Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine. Yermak said those returning included two sisters who refused a demand to attend Russian schools made by Russia-installed authorities who had threatened to remove the girls from their mother&#39;s care. Refusal to attend Russian school&nbsp;Another teenage boy similarly refused to attend Russian school and one child and her mother were refused permission to leave occupied areas as one of their relatives was serving in the Ukrainian military. Ukraine says Russia has illegally deported or forcibly displaced more than 19,500 children to Russia and Belarus in violation of the Geneva Conventions. Research by Yale&#39;s School of Public Health suggested in September that the number could be closer to 35,000. Russia denies it has deported children from Ukraine, saying it has taken action to ensure they are safe from wartime hostilities.

Official says those returning included two sisters who refused a demand to attend Russian schools made by Russia-installed authorities; Ukraine says Russia has illegally deported or forcibly displaced more than 19,500 children to Russia.

Articles tagged with "President Zelensky"

UN condemns 'dangerous escalation' in Ukraine war

Kyiv says Russia has returned 528 bodies to Ukraine

Twenty-three children rescued from Russian-occupied areas: Ukrainian official

UN condemns 'dangerous escalation' in Ukraine war