Russia Is Attacking Civilian Targets In Ukraine, Says Ukrainian Deputy PM

After "heavy opposition" from the Ukrainian army, Olha Stefanishyna told the BBC that Russia launched an "enormous operation" against civilians.

Ukrainian Deputy PM Olha Stefanishyna. (Source: Getty Images)

New Delhi: Russia is attacking civilian targets in Ukraine, including hospitals, nurseries, and schools, according to the Ukrainian deputy prime minister Olha Stefanishyna, BBC reported.

After "heavy opposition" from the Ukrainian army, Olha Stefanishyna told the BBC that Russia launched an "enormous operation" against civilians.

She accused Russia of carrying out a "terrorist plot" that included air and ground operations.

Health institutions are also being assaulted, according to the World Health Organization. 

"The WHO has confirmed several attacks on health care in Ukraine, causing multiple deaths and injuries," the WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was quoted by BBC in its report.

Russia is being accused by the British government of targeting inhabited regions "in multiple locations."

Issuing an intelligence update, the UK said, "Russia has previously used similar tactics in Chechnya in 1999 and Syria in 2016, employing both air and ground-based munitions."

On Saturday, UN monitors reported 351 civilian fatalities in Ukraine since the invasion began on February 24, but the true count was likely to be "considerably higher."

According to the UNHCR, more than 1.5 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion.

However, Russia denies targeting civilians, claiming that it is engaged in a "special military operation" against Ukrainian "nationalists" and "neo-Nazis."

(With BBC Inputs)