Russia committed ‘vast majority’ of alleged war crimes in Ukraine: UN report

A United Nations commission concluded numerous war crimes took place following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with most having been committed by Russian forces.

The commission announced the conclusion on Tuesday in a report submitted to the U.N.’s Human Rights Council, outlining an array of international humanitarian law violations ranging from torture to rape to summary executions.

“The impact of these violations on the civilian population in Ukraine is immense,” Erik Møse, the commission’s chairman, said in a statement. “The loss of lives is in the thousands. The destruction of infrastructure is devastating.”

The commission, which was established in March days after the invasion began, also indicated that Ukrainian forces at times committed international humanitarian law violations, including two incidents that the body said qualifies as war crimes.

Members of the commission traveled to Ukraine five times and visited 27 towns, interviewing 191 people and inspecting sites like mass graves and places of detention. The commission’s members alluded to its findings to the Human Rights Council last month.

The report — which focused on Ukraine’s Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, and Sumy regions in the early weeks of the war — documents indiscriminate Russian attacks on populated Ukrainian areas and instances of Russian forces attacking civilians who were attempting to flee.

“These violations continue to have a devastating effect for victims and survivors,” the report states. “Significantly, victims emphasised the essential role of justice and accountability. In this regard, the Commission recommends enhanced coordination of international and national accountability efforts, to improve effectiveness and prevent harm to victims and witnesses.”

The allegations of war crimes align with President Biden, who has called for Russian President Vladimir Putin to face trial. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has pitched creating an ad hoc international tribunal to punish Russia.

“Alongside our allies and partners, we will continue to impose costs on Russia for its aggression, hold Putin and Russia accountable for its atrocities and war crimes and provide the support necessary for Ukrainian forces to defend their country and their freedom,” Biden said in a statement earlier this month, after Russia launched a barrage of missiles that landed in Kyiv and other cities.

Commission members also suggested both Russia and Ukraine, to differing degrees, failed to protect civilians by locating military assets near densely populated areas.

That finding echoes the conclusions of Amnesty International in August, when it wrote that the Ukrainian military put civilians at risk by operating out of schools and hospitals. 

The report caused an uproar among Ukrainian leaders, who argued it unfairly blamed Ukraine for Russia’s tactics. Amnesty stood by the report but issued a clarification that its findings did not justify Russian actions.

The U.N. commission will present its final findings, including recommendations for holding perpetrators accountable, in March to the body’s Human Rights Council.

The report submitted on Tuesday indicated that commission members will focus their remaining efforts on alleged forced transfers of Ukrainians to Russia and referendums held in four Ukrainian regions last month about Russia annexing the territory.

Those referendums were condemned by U.S. and Western officials as a sham orchestrated by the Kremlin, and residents’ supposed support prompted Russia to annex the regions shortly afterward. 

The annexations marked an escalation in Putin’s months-long invasion of Ukraine.

Facing territorial losses from a Ukrainian counteroffensive, Putin also called up to 300,000 reservists to bolster Russian military efforts, threatened the West with nuclear weapons and launched increased missile strikes across Ukraine.