UN says killings, displacement rise in Ukraine
Nearly 300 people were killed since October 18th in fighting which continued in eastern Ukraine despite a cease-fire agreement, United Nations human rights investigators said Thursday.
A new report from the UN monitoring team in Ukraine said at least 4,317 people have been killed - up from the 4,042 deaths reported in October - from mid-April until November 18th.
The number of internally displaced people has sharply increased to 466,829, compared to 275,489 as of September 18, the report said.
Russia, meanwhile, reacted sharply to a US official's comment that Washington should consider supplying weapons to Ukraine. "We repeatedly heard confirmations from the (US) administration that only non-lethal weapons would be delivered to Ukraine. If there is a change in this policy, then this is a highly destabilizing factor that could seriously influence the balance of power in the region," said Alexander Lukashevich, spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry.
