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Separation in dispute: Oksana Pokalchuk was head of the Ukraine office of the human rights organization Amnesty International (archive photo)
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Pier Marco Tacca/Getty Images
The head of the Ukraine office of the human rights organization Amnesty International has resigned after the publication of a critical report on the Ukrainian army.
Oksana Pokalchuk announced this on Facebook late Friday evening and accused Amnesty of using Russian propaganda.
Amnesty caused outrage in Kyiv with the report presented on Thursday.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused the organization of "putting victims and attackers on the same level, so to speak".
In the report, Amnesty International accused the Ukrainian army of endangering civilians by building bases in residential areas, schools and hospitals.
"Unless you live in a country invaded by occupiers who are tearing it to pieces, you probably don't understand what it's like to condemn an army of defenders," Pokalchuk explained.
"And there are no words in any language that can convey this to someone who has not experienced this pain."
Pokalchuk said she tried to warn Amnesty officials that the report was one-sided and did not adequately reflect Ukraine's position.
However, she was ignored.
Amnesty says the organization contacted Ukrainian Defense Ministry officials on July 29.
However, they did not respond to the request for a statement on the findings of the report in good time before publication on August 4th.
That's not nearly enough time, Pokalchuk explained.
“As a result, the organization inadvertently issued a statement that sounded like support for the Russian narrative.
Instead, in an effort to protect civilians, this report became a Russian propaganda tool,” she criticized.
Amnesty Secretary General Agnès Callamard said on Friday that the organization was "completely" behind its report.
tgk/afp