United Nations finds more evidence of Russian war crimes in Ukraine: Report says Putin’s forces committed ‘indiscriminate attacks’, rape and deportation of children
- There is also evidence for attacks with explosives, killing and injuring civilians
The United Nations have found more evidence of Russia committing ‘indiscriminate attacks’ and war crimes in Ukraine, including torture, rape and the deportation of children.
The report by the UN’s Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine follows a study published in March, which first presented evidence for human rights violations committed by Russian soldiers during the war.
‘The Commission has found new evidence that Russian authorities have committed violations of international human rights and international humanitarian law, and corresponding crimes, in areas that came under their control in Ukraine,’ the UN said in its report.
It listed attacks in the cities of Uman and Kherson, among others, where evidence was found that Russia carried out ‘indiscriminate attacks with explosive weapons, resulting in deaths, injuries and the destruction and damage of civilian objects’.
The report by the UN’s Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine follows a study published in March, which first presented evidence for human rights violations committed by Russian soldiers during the war (pictured: destroyed Russian vehicles in Ukrainian Bucha)
During one of the listed attacks on a block of flats in Uman, in the Cherkasy region in central Ukraine, 24 people – most of them women and children – were killed in April and part of the building became uninhabitable.
The report also stated: ‘The Commission has recently documented attacks that affected civilian objects, such as residential buildings, a railway station, shops, and a warehouse for civilian use, leading to numerous casualties.’
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Russia has repeatedly denied committing atrocities or targeting civilians in Ukraine.
The investigation also found cases of torture at Russian detention facilities, in the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, where Russian soldiers used the same pattern of torture like the UN previously reported.
Victims were mainly men suspected of passing information to or helping Ukraine.
Witnesses reported in some cases the torture was so brutal the victim even died.
The commissioners said that interviews with victims and witnesses revealed ‘a profound disregard towards human dignity by Russian authorities’.
The UN had documented cases of rape ‘with the use of force or psychological coercion’ as well as other sexual violence often committed alongside severe beatings, strangling, suffocating, slashing, shooting next to the head of the victim and even killing.
‘Most of the incidents occurred after the perpetrators broke into the victims’ homes,’ it said. ‘Victims reported rapes at gunpoint and threats of killing or of inflicting other serious harm to the victims or their relatives.’
In one of the rape cases listed by the report, a 75-year-old woman was raped and tortured by a Russian soldier in her own home.
The investigation also found cases of torture at Russian detention facilities, in the Kherson (the region is pictured here after it was flooded following the destruction of the Kakhova Dam in June) and Zaporizhzhia regions, where Russian soldiers used the same pattern of torture like the UN previously reported
She was hit in the face, chest, and ribs and the soldier strangled her during his interrogation.
He also ordered the woman to take her clothes off, but when she refused, he ripped them off himself and cut her in the abdomen and raped her repeatedly.
READ MORE: UN investigators say Russia’s forced deportation of Ukrainian children is a WAR CRIME after reviewing 164 cases of victims aged four to 18
During the attack, the 75-year-old also suffered several broken ribs and had some teeth knocked out.
Experiences like these left victims with severe long-term trauma, the report highlighted.
The commission added that it had documented the transfer of 31 children from Ukraine to Russia in May last and ‘concluded that it was an unlawful deportation and a war crime’.
Moscow has repeatedly denied forcibly taking Ukrainian children, saying it moved children found in orphanages or without parental care to Russia for their own safety and placed as many of as possible with relatives there.
The Russian diplomatic mission in Geneva did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the commission’s report by news agency Reuters.
The commission also found three cases of Ukrainian authorities have committed violations of human rights of people they have accused of collaborating with Russian authorities.
The report also highlighted concerns about the ‘gravity of the documented violations and crimes as well as their impact on victims, survivors, and the affected communities.
The UN called upon ‘concerned conflict parties’ – Russia and Ukraine – to stop war crimes and violations of human rights immediately.
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