"The vast majority of the international community believes the preponderance of aggressive actions are coming from the Russian side and the side of the Russian-backed separatists,” Psaki said.
“We certainly continue to encourage both sides to take steps to prevent civilian casualties and to keep – take that in as an important factor, as this conflict is ongoing," she said.
International human rights organization Human Rights Watch has said it believes that the Russian-backed militants are likely to be involved in mass civilian deaths in Mariupol on January 24 and Volnovakha on January 13, which killed at least 41 people and injured over 100 civilians, according to a report by the organization released on February 3.
The death toll from the conflict in the Donbas now exceeds 5,358 people, according to UN figures. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said on Tuesday that at least 224 civilians were killed and 545 wounded in intensified fighting in the last three weeks of January.
