Russian soldiers tortured Ukrainians to death: the UN released the results of its own investigation

Russian soldiers tortured Ukrainians so brutally that some of their victims died. They also forced families to watch rapes of women. This was announced on Monday by members of the UN-authorized investigative body, which collects evidence of Russian crimes in Ukraine.

The head of the Commission for the Investigation of Events in Ukraine, Eric Mese, said that his team “gathered additional evidence indicating that the use of torture by the Russian Armed Forces in areas under their control was widespread and systematic.”

The UN reveals shocking facts: Russian soldiers tortured Ukrainians to death

“In some cases, torture was used with such brutality that it caused the death of the victim,” said Eric Mese. He added that “in the occupied territories of the Kherson region, Russian soldiers raped and committed sexual violence against women aged 19 to 83”. Often the family was kept close and made to listen.

Russia denies committing atrocities or persecuting civilians in Ukraine. But the commission’s attempts to communicate with Russia remained unanswered.

Moscow was given an opportunity to respond to the accusations at a council meeting, but no Russian representative came. Russia’s Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Asked about the number of torture cases that ended in death, commission member Pablo de Greiff said it was not possible due to limited access, but that it was “quite a large number and … it comes from very different sources” across the country, near and far from the line of combat”.

Russians tortured Ukrainians who were considered “informers”

In August and September, the Meze commission visited four territories of Ukraine that were previously under the control of Russian troops, in particular Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.

Torture was found to have been used mainly in detention centers run by the Russian authorities, and mainly against people accused of being Ukrainian informants.

Earlier, the commission stated that the violations committed by the Russian military in Ukraine, including the use of torture, may constitute crimes against humanity.

In March 2022, the Rada authorized a commission to investigate abuses in Ukraine since the beginning of the war, and it has visited several times and conducted hundreds of interviews. Evidence gathered during UN-mandated investigations is sometimes used in national and international trials, including in war crimes cases.