Civilian casualties from shelling, mines and booby traps in eastern Ukraine are at their highest in a year as government forces and pro-Moscow separatists constantly violate a ceasefire, the U.N. rights boss said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said at least 69 civilians had been killed or wounded in June, double the figure for the previous month, with the figure at 73 in July. Casualties in eastern Ukraine casualties were the highest since August 2015, Zeid said in a statement. "Civilians are once again having to flee to improvised bomb shelters in their basements, sometimes overnight, with increasing frequency - the price of the ceasefire violations is too high for the women, men and children in eastern Ukraine," he said. Forces must disengage and implement a full and sustainable ceasefire, in line with the Minsk agreement of February 2015, he said. "The many casualties we have documented in recent weeks suggest that neither Ukrainian forces nor the armed groups are taking the necessary precautions to protect civilians," he said.
