Russians tortured some Ukrainians to death, raped women aged 19-83, UN commission finds

Russian soldiers tortured Ukrainians so brutally that it led to the death of some victims, and forced relatives to listen as they raped women, the head of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry, Erik Møse, stated at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Reuters reports.

He noted that his team had collected additional evidence indicating that the use of torture by the Russian military in areas under their control was "widespread and systematic."

"In some cases, torture was inflicted with such brutality that it caused the death of the victim," he said.

In particular, Russian soldiers committed sexual violence against women aged 19 to 83 in the temporarily occupied parts of Kherson Oblast, the commission found.

Asked about the number of cases of torture that resulted in death, commission member Pablo de Greiff said it was impossible to know because of limited access to the areas, but it was "a fairly large number."

In August and September, Møse's commission visited the de-occupied territories of Kherson and Zaporizhzhya oblasts in southern Ukraine. It was established that torture was used mostly in detention centers organized by the occupation administration and mainly against people accused of being "Ukrainian informants".

In June 2023, in the 15th month of the full-scale war, the UN suspected the Russians of using "state-sanctioned torture" against Ukrainians.

On September 10, the UN special rapporteur stated that 90% of Ukrainian prisoners of war were tortured during their stay in Russian captivity.