UN commission finds war crimes in attacks on Ukraine energy

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine said on Monday that Russian authorities committed war crimes of intentionally directing attacks against civilian objects, in a report to the UN General Assembly (A/81/440) based on accounts from 255 people who endured winter conditions in Dnipro, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Poltava, Zaporizhzhia and Zhytomyr oblasts. The commission said Russian commanders ordering attacks on heating facilities knew those facilities were indispensable to civilians, particularly during winter, and that Russian authorities had made official declarations concerning further attacks; UN News summarised the report as also finding crimes against humanity through attacks on vital energy infrastructure.

The commission also cited compelling evidence that Russian authorities recruited men trafficked from 29 countries into the armed forces in violation of international human rights law, using deception and coercion, with recruits forced to sign contracts in Russian with the Ministry of Defence and deployed to dangerous front line tasks. It called for all trafficked persons to be discharged. The commission said it also examined Ukrainian attacks on energy infrastructure in Russia and in occupied areas, but could not investigate their impact inside Russia because the authorities there did not allow access or respond to requests for information.