This is the News in Brief from the United Nations.

Ukraine crisis: terrified families seek shelter underground in capital

Amid reported deadly missile attacks from Russia’s military action in Ukraine, including the capital Kiev and other cities, terrified families have been forced to seek shelter underground, UN humanitarians have said.

At least 100,000 have also likely been displaced by the violence, and well over 100 civilians killed and injured by shelling and airstrikes, according to the UN rights office and UN refugee agency.

From the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), here’s Afshan Khan with the latest in Kiev:

“As we speak, there have been major attacks in Kiev that have created greater fear and panic among the population, with families really scared, moving alongside their children into subways and shelters, and this is clearly a terrifying moment for children across the country.”

On Thursday, the UN Secretary-General allocated $20 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund to meet urgent needs to support operations along the contact line in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, and in other areas.

Sri Lanka: ‘setbacks’ to accountability for past human rights violations

To Sri Lanka, where UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has urged the authorities to address past grievances over violations and do more towards national reconciliation efforts.

According to a new report from the human rights office, security forces continue to harass civil society organizations, human rights defenders and journalists, particularly in the country’s north and east.

Moreover, other “setbacks to accountability” include the thousands of people “disappeared” in past decades throughout the country’s long-running civil war, that ended in 2009.

Here’s UN rights office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani:

“They are very serious issues, I mean the militarization, the ethno-religious nationalism human rights defenders and the continued lack of accountability and couple that with a pattern of surveillance and harassment of those who try to speak out – civil society organizations, civil society and journalists – and it’s a recipe for further human rights violations.”

UN’s Sudan rights expert calls for release of protesters

The independent UN human rights expert for Sudan ended an official visit there to with a call to release the protesters arrested after demonstrating against last October’s military takeover.

Adama Dieng welcomed the reported release of some 100 people from detention and called for the “immediate release of all others”.

He repeated concerns about the excessive force and live ammunition used against protesters since the coup, in which at least 82 people were killed and over 2,000 injured, and those, mostly women, who have been subjected to sexual violence.

Daniel Johnson, UN News.