The United Nations Human Rights Office reports that nearly three years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the human rights situation in Ukraine and in the Russian-occupied territories continues to deteriorate. As military operations intensify, the number of civilians killed increases, and instances of torture, arbitrary executions, and other severe violations of human rights continue to rise.
“The human rights situation remains dire as the number of civilian casualties increases, along with ongoing executions and the torture of war prisoners, as well as Russia’s efforts to consolidate its control over the occupied Ukrainian territories,” the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) stated in its report.
The report, which was released on Tuesday by the UN Office for Human Rights, covers developments from September 1 to November 30, 2024. It is based on information gathered through dozens of field visits, prison visits, and interviews with over 800 victims and witnesses of human rights violations.
“Behind every fact and figure in the report are stories of suffering and loss of life that demonstrate the devastating impact of war across Ukraine,” said Danielle Bell, head of the mission, during the report’s publication in Kyiv.
She noted that mission teams documented 574 civilian killings and over 3,000 injuries during this three-month period, adding that September marked the highest number of deaths in a single month since July 2022.
The report attributes the rise in civilian deaths to “intensified military operations” by Russian armed forces, particularly in Kherson, Donetsk, and other areas of the Kharkiv region under Russian control.
“The use of remote-controlled bombs and short-range drones has contributed to the high number of civilian casualties and damage to communities,” the report states, emphasizing that since mid-November, Russian forces have begun large-scale coordinated airstrikes targeting Ukraine’s critical energy infrastructure.
“These attacks disrupted electricity and services dependent on it, such as water, heating, and transportation in many regions,” the report added, noting that these attacks further damaged Ukraine’s energy capacity as winter approached.
Russian and Ukrainian officials have not yet commented on the findings of the report.
A spokesperson for the UN Office for Human Rights told Voice of America that the report was “sent to the Russian Federation in advance of its publication, as is the practice. We have not received any comment from them,” the spokesperson added.
Ukrainian War Prisoners Targeted by Sexual Violence
The report reveals that torture and mistreatment of Ukrainian war prisoners by Russian authorities “are widespread and systematic.” According to the report, 42 recently released Ukrainian prisoners of war provided “credible and detailed testimony” of the torture they endured, “including beatings, electric shocks, and prolonged solitary confinement.”
The report also indicates that sexual violence is widespread against both women and men, with many prisoners subjected to “rape, electric shocks, and beatings of the genital area, forced nudity, and threats of rape and castration.”
Since the end of August, UN observers recorded a significant number of “credible claims of the execution of Ukrainian war prisoners” related to the killings of 62 individuals in 19 incidents. The UN Office for Human Rights verified “the execution of 15 Ukrainian soldiers.”
The report finds that Russian war prisoners also suffered torture and mistreatment by Ukrainian authorities, but these instances occurred on a much smaller scale, primarily during the early stages of their detention in transit locations.
The report states that the Office for Human Rights documented the killing of a Russian war prisoner at a transit location in early 2024, caused by torture, and is investigating two other similar deaths of Russian prisoners of war.
Treatment of Civilians in Russian-Occupied Territories and Crimea
The report also examines the treatment of civilians in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine and in Crimea, which was illegally annexed in 2014.
Imposition of Russian Identity
The authors of the report accuse Russia of strengthening its control over occupied territories by imposing Russian laws, contrary to its obligations under international humanitarian law, “which is leading to further restrictions on fundamental rights and freedoms, property issues, and cultural rights.”
They highlighted a new strategy by Russian authorities since September “to force Ukrainian children and youth in Ukrainian territories to demonstrate their loyalty to the Russian Federation.” This strategy includes training children in military skills as part of their summer activities and using propaganda in schools.
“During the summer of 2024, Russian authorities in the occupied territories sent children from the occupied Ukrainian territories to camps in Crimea and the Russian Federation, where boys and girls underwent military training and participated in activities focused on reinforcing patriotism and Russian identity,” contrary to International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law, according to the report’s authors.
The report strongly criticizes the Russian Federation, as the occupying power, for limiting religious freedom and freedom of expression “to silence criticism of Russian military actions.”
It also criticizes regulations passed by the Ukrainian government in the territories they control, which “ban activities of Ukrainian religious organizations with sister organizations in the Russian Federation.”
According to the authors, these regulations disproportionately limit freedom of religion or belief and “should be changed to fully comply with international human rights law.” / VOA
