Guterres concerned by civilian casualties from attacks in Russia

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is concerned by rising civilian deaths and injuries from Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory, including near St Petersburg, spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on October 19.

At the briefing, Dujarric called for attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure to stop wherever they occur. He also conveyed Guterres’s condemnation of intensified Russian strikes on Kyiv, Odesa, Kharkiv, Dnipro and other Ukrainian cities.

The secretary-general’s spokesperson expressed concern about escalation, including on Russian territory, in August, including on August 25, and returned to the issue in late September.

Following a drone attack on the night of October 18, St Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov reported one person killed and five injured. He also reported fires at civilian infrastructure in the Nevsky, Krasnoselsky, Krasnogvardeysky and Moskovsky districts.

Beglov said 12 apartment buildings and two private homes had been damaged.