WARSAW/VIENNA, 18 March 2022 – OSCE Chairman-in-Office and Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau and Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid strenuously condemned the ongoing violence by the Russian Armed Forces against civilian areas throughout Ukraine, including the recent bombing of a theatre harboring hundreds of civilians in Mariupol.

“We utterly condemn this despicable act, which appears to have deliberately targeted a building clearly marked as sheltering civilians, including children,” said Minister Rau. “While reports that most of those seeking refuge in the theatre have survived provide a glimmer of hope in a dark time, this attack is only the latest in a horrendous siege that has seen civilians deprived of food, water, medicine or electricity while facing a constant risk of death.”

“These deliberate and inhuman attacks on civilian areas must stop – in Mariupol, Irpin, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Sumy, Kyiv and beyond,” said Secretary General Schmid. “This unconscionable violence and the grave costs it brings to civilian life and infrastructure continue to grow. It has to stop – I cannot stress that enough.”

Minister Rau and Secretary General Schmid welcomed the Order of the International Court of Justice, issued on 16 March 2022, in which the Court decided upon provisional measures including that the Russian Federation immediately suspend its military operations in Ukraine.

“This order by the International Court of Justice reinforces that the aggression needs to stop now,” added Rau. “The Secretary General and I have repeatedly called for an immediate cessation of hostilities since the launch of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, and we once again firmly state: this must end.”