Since Amnesty International accuses Ukraine of endangering civilians, the NGO "attempts to amnesty the terrorist state" of Russia, the Ukrainian president said Thursday in his daily video statement.
Amnesty International "transfers the responsibility from the aggressor to the victim", also deplored Volodymyr Zelensky.
Earlier in the day, the head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Dmytro Kouleba, said he was "outraged" by the "unfair" accusations of the NGO.
In a report released on Thursday after a four-month investigation, the NGO accused the Ukrainian military of establishing military bases in schools and hospitals and launching attacks from populated areas, a tactic it says violates international humanitarian law.
“The aggression against our state is unjustified, invasive and terrorist.
If someone writes a report in which the victim and the aggressor are in some way put on an equal footing, if certain data on the victim is analyzed and the actions of the aggressor are ignored, that does not can be tolerated,” said Volodymyr Zelensky.
Dmytro Kouleba in return accused Amnesty International of “creating a false balance between the oppressor and the victim, between the country which is destroying hundreds and thousands of civilians, cities, territories and the country which is desperately defending itself”.
“Stop creating this false reality, where everyone is a little guilty of something and start systematically reporting the truth about what Russia really stands for today,” he added.
A four-month investigation
“We have documented a tendency for Ukrainian forces to endanger civilians and violate the laws of war when operating in populated areas,” said Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International.
“Being in a defensive position does not exempt the Ukrainian army from respecting international humanitarian law,” she added.
Between April and July, Amnesty International researchers investigated Russian strikes in the regions of Kharkiv (east), Donbass and Mykolaiv (south-east), inspecting sites hit by strikes and interviewing survivors, witnesses and relatives of victims.
According to the NGO, these researchers found evidence that Ukrainian forces were launching strikes from populated residential areas and had established bases in civilian buildings in 19 towns and villages in these regions.
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Shortly before, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhaïlo Podoliak had assured that "people's lives" were "the priority" and that the populations of towns near the front were being evacuated.
Mykhaïlo Podoliak accused Amnesty of participating in a "disinformation and propaganda campaign" in the service of the Kremlin's arguments.
If Amnesty has denounced these Ukrainian tactics, the NGO insists that they "in no way justify the blind Russian attacks" which have hit the civilian populations.