Ukraine, Vigne (Pres. Anvcg): “Do not neglect the consequences of the armed conflict on civilians”

The National Association of Civilian Victims of War (Anvcg), the moral body responsible by law for the representation and protection in Italy of civilian victims of war and their families, expresses concern and bewilderment at the dramatic escalation of tensions between Russia and the countries of NATO due to the Ukrainian question, which could precipitate a bloody conflict for the civilian population involved. “According to the ranking of Action on Armed Violence, partner of Anvcg within the international network against explosive weapons, Ukraine is one of the 15 countries in the world where the impact of armed conflicts is the most bloody on civilians – recalls Michele Vigne , National President of the Anvcg and himself a civilian victim of war. “In Ukraine, during the first conflict of 2014, the civilian population was the target of indiscriminate attacks, despite the express prohibition of international humanitarian law. Numerous evidences have shown that almost ten years later, Ukrainian civilians in the Donetsk region are still suffering the consequences of the collapse of the health system, the destruction of local hospitals and the failure of water and sewage networks. In addition to the injuries and permanent mutilations, a high percentage of them suffer from post-traumatic stress due to the incessant bombing in the cities and live in situations of extreme precariousness, due to the forced abandonment of their homes. That being the case, we are confident that the current escalation will only have disastrous consequences on the lives of even more civilians. And this time it will not only concern a region, but the whole country. “While the risk of a war on the doorstep of Europe becomes more and more concrete, the Association raises the alarm of the existence of a debate entirely centered on the geopolitical dynamics of the conflict and on rearmament operations, in whose analysis the concerns and strategies for dealing with the dramatic humanitarian consequences that the war would cause to the civilian population of the country and, indirectly, to that of Europe as a whole, are completely absent. ” latest round of negotiations on the text of the Political Declaration on explosive weapons, which, potentially, would have a positive impact precisely in alleviating and preventing the consequences of the use of conventional explosive weapons on populations, civilian victims of war, concludes President Vigne , ask Italy and Europe to take every possible means to avert what promises to be a human catastrophe. In particular, they demand that analyzes of the military prospects of all parties involved take into account the humanitarian impact that such a conflict would produce. A new perspective of reading conflicts and their consequences is all the more necessary to reduce tensions and facilitate negotiations.