UN Report Finds Widespread Sexual Violence In Ukraine War, Most Cases Tied To Russia

The report recorded 1,004 validated cases of conflict-related sexual violence in between February 2022, when Russia released its major intrusion of Ukraine, and July 2026.

Of those cases, 89% were credited to the Russian side, consisting of members of the militaries, jail service and security firms, while 11% were connected to Ukraine, consisting of members of the Ukrainian militaries.

Russia’s long-term diplomatic objective in Geneva decreased to discuss the report.

by means of Associated Press

Ukraine’s foreign ministry stated in a declaration it invited the publication of the report, which it stated revealed the scale of the human rights infractions committed by Russia and the steps being taken by Ukraine to avoid such violence and compensate victims.

The declaration did not comment straight on the findings of occurrences of abuse by Ukrainian forces.

The report warned that the findings were not extensive due to the fact that conflict-related sexual violence stays considerably under-reported.

It stated Russia’s rejection to approve the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights access to inhabited Ukrainian area, detainees of war and civilian detainees implied the figures most likely undervalue the real scale of the offenses.

In inhabited locations of Ukraine and within Russia, Russian authorities performed sexual violence versus Ukrainian detainees of war and apprehended civilians at all phases of captivity, consisting of throughout capture, transfer, interrogation and detention, the report stated.

through Associated Press

iolations consisted of gang rape, rape, genital mutilation and making use of electrical shocks on guys’s genital areas with a Soviet-era field telephone called a “tapik”. The findings were based upon interviews with victims of sexual violence devoted by both sides.

A lot of victims in detention were guys, especially detainees of war and detainees, although females and kids were likewise impacted, primarily in Russian-occupied locations of Ukraine.

“Sexual violence in dispute is frequently misconstrued to be generally impacting females and ladies, where in the Ukraine war context, most of survivors are males,” Danielle Bell, head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, stated.

“And males and females need various services and methods to their healing,” she stated.

The report concluded that Russia had actually stopped working to take actions to avoid, examine or prosecute sexual violence devoted by its workers and had actually not engaged with OHCHR’s ask for info.

RUSSIAN PRISONERS OF WAR

In Ukrainian government-controlled area, almost half of the offenses credited to Ukrainian authorities versus Russian and third-country detainees of war and detainees included dangers of sexual violence and whippings to genital areas.

OHCHR stated it did not record any cases of rape of Russian POWs by Ukrainian forces.

OHCHR stated Russian and third-country detainees of war reported sexual violence in 10 main detention centers and 55 informal or transit areas.

The Ukrainian federal government had actually taken some actions to avoid such infractions and had actually complied with OHCHR’s demands, although efforts to make sure responsibility stayed restricted, it included.

“I am deeply alarmed by the frequency of these abhorrent acts recorded in our report, and fear that they are probably continuing in the middle of the unceasing violence we are experiencing every day in Ukraine,” stated UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk.

(Reporting by Olivia Le Poidevin; Additional reporting by Daniel Flynn; Editing by Alex Richardson)