In a report released by the United Nations, it was revealed that Russia has been engaging in torture, arbitrary detention, and repression of Ukrainian identity in the parts of eastern Ukraine it occupies. The report, based on interviews with over 2,300 witnesses and victims, detailed a climate of fear created by Russian forces in the region. The report also highlighted the annexation of Kherson, Zaporizhia, Luhansk, and Donetsk by Russian President Vladimir Putin in September, a move rejected by Kyiv and the international community.
The report documented numerous cases of human rights abuses, including the execution of civilians, torture in detention centers, and forced disappearances. The UN investigators found that Russian forces had tortured 90% of civilian detainees, with methods such as kicking, waterboarding, and electric shocks being used. Sexual violence, including against children, was also reported.
In addition to human rights abuses, the report also highlighted Russia’s efforts to suppress Ukrainian identity by imposing its language, citizenship, laws, court system, and education curricula on the occupied areas. Residents were pressured into obtaining Russian passports, and civil servants in fields such as law enforcement and education were coerced into working for Russian forces.
The report called for accountability for these abuses, noting that no one had been held responsible for the atrocities committed by Russian forces. It also criticized the wording of Ukraine’s law punishing collaboration with occupying forces as “vague and imprecise,” potentially criminalizing conduct that may be essential for the normal life of the population in the occupied territories. The report concluded that the actions of the Russian Federation have had profound and long-lasting consequences for Ukrainian society as a whole.
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