The United Nations said on Monday that more than 6,000 people have now been killed in eastern Ukraine after almost a year of fighting between government forces and Russian-backed separatists.
The report from the U.N. Human Rights Office recorded 5,665 deaths from mid-April 2014 to mid-February of this year, as well as 13,961 wounded individuals. Adding the recent casualties from the separatist attacks on the Donetsk airport and the strategic rail hub Debaltseve, the U.N. office estimated that the death toll has now surpassed 6,000.
While the U.N. noted allegations of arbitrary detention, torture, and enforced disappearances against both government troops and the rebels, the international body said substantial support from Russia to the latter has fueled continued attacks and casualties.
"Credible reports indicate a continuing flow of heavy weaponry and foreign fighters throughout the reporting period, including from the Russian Federation, into areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions controlled by armed groups," the report said. "This has sustained and enhanced the capacity of armed groups of the self-proclaimed ‘Donetsk people’s republic’ and ‘Luhansk people’s republic’ to resist Government armed forces and to launch new offensives in some areas, including around the Donetsk airport, Mariupol, and Debaltseve."
President Vladimir Putin of Russia denies sending aid to the separatists.
Indiscriminate shelling in civilian areas has destroyed property and infrastructure, leaving residents without electricity, gas, heating, water, or food in the freezing temperatures of winter. Thousands remain trapped in locations such as Debaltseve, from which government forces were forced to retreat last month.
A majority of those who have been able to evacuate the scenes of fighting are elderly pensioners who lack basic supplies such as warm clothing. More than one million Ukrainians are internally displaced.
The U.N. also reported ongoing "systematic human rights violations" against the minority Tatars in Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula that Russia invaded and annexed in March 2014.
President Barack Obama has so far resisted appeals from the Ukrainian military for lethal aid to combat the separatists, including small arms, ammunition, and anti-tank weapons. While there has been a recent lull in fighting following a ceasefire agreement reached last month, Ukrainian officials warn that the rebels are still training and have only pulled back heavy weapons to reposition them for attacks on areas like Mariupol.
Additionally, U.S. officials have provided Ukrainian forces with degraded and delayed satellite images of the separatist positions for fear of provoking Russia.
Obama’s reluctance to arm Ukraine has elicited bipartisan criticism in Congress. Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) recently called the administration’s denial of lethal aid "outrageous."
"The President’s failure to do so despite Russia’s repeated violations of every ceasefire and international commitment regarding Ukraine is outrageous," he said. "Vladimir Putin needs to understand that Russia will pay a price for its continued violations of Ukraine’s sovereignty."
On Monday, Rep. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.)—the leading Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee—said that Putin was "carrying the mantle for authoritarian regimes" in "a new bipolar world."
"While Ukraine will never win a war against Russia, we can impose additional costs, so I think providing those weapons, I think working with Europe to stiffen sanctions even further and exploring ways we may have to go it alone in terms of increased sanctions are going to be necessary," Schiff said on MSNBC. "They won't work in the short term, as we've seen, but over the midterm, I think as…Russians continue to feel the downward drag on their economy, they may begin to question whether this adventurism of Putin is such a good idea."