UN commission: Russia committed crimes against humanity and war crimes in Ukraine

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, which documents violations of international law in Russia's war against Ukraine, has presented a new report to the UN General Assembly. It concludes that Russian authorities have committed crimes against humanity and war crimes by deliberately striking civilian objects. The commission also examined how Russia brings foreign nationals into its armed forces.

Attacks on energy infrastructure

Presenting the report, commission chair Erik Møse said Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure are continuing. The war crime consists of deliberately targeting civilian objects, while the crime against humanity covers other inhumane acts that cause great suffering to the civilian population.

Commission member Pablo de Greiff noted that the frequency, intensity and geographic reach of the attacks have grown in recent years. This has badly damaged Ukraine's energy facilities and put heavy strain on the ability to restore them. Last winter, when temperatures fell as low as -21°C, millions of civilians faced prolonged outages of electricity, heating, gas and water. As an example, de Greiff cited a recent attack that left 600,000 people in Kyiv without power.

According to him, the evidence gathered shows that the waves of attacks were carried out deliberately and in line with a state policy of depriving civilians of electricity and other vital services that depend on it, and of causing maximum suffering. The commission concludes that these acts constitute a crime against humanity.

Recruitment into the Russian military

The commission's second finding concerns the recruitment of foreign nationals by deception to take part in the armed conflict in Ukraine. Møse said the evidence shows that citizens of 29 countries across different continents were recruited into the Russian armed forces through deceit and fraud, in coordination with agents operating around the world. The agents exploited people's vulnerability and lured them with false offers of civilian jobs. The commission classifies this practice as human trafficking and a human rights violation.