UN Slams ‘Systematic’ Russian Torture of Ukrainian Civilians
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
UN Slams ‘Systematic’ Russian Torture of Ukrainian Civilians
Russian authorities subjected civilian detainees to “widespread” and “systematic” torture, the U.N. says. At least 1,800 people are still in custody, says head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. UN investigators interviewed 216 civilians released from detention in the occupied territories since June 2023. Many said they had suffered threats of death and violence to themselves or a loved one.
A UN rights office report concluded that Russia “has subjected Ukrainian civilian detainees to consistent patterns of serious violations” of international law since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“Russia has detained Ukrainian civilians on a massive scale,” Danielle Bell, head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, told reporters in Geneva.
Speaking from Kyiv, she said Ukraine’s top prosecutor had recorded more than 15,000 civilian detentions by Russian authorities, with at least 1,800 people still in custody.
“This number should be considered an absolute minimum,” she said, adding that a core finding of the report was the “systematic and widespread torture and ill treatment of [detained] Ukrainian civilians by Russian authorities.”
The report said UN investigators had interviewed 216 civilians released from detention in the occupied territories since June 2023.
It said 92% of them “gave consistent and detailed accounts of having been subjected to torture or ill-treatment during their captivity.”
90 executions in custody
“Severe beatings with a variety of instruments, such as batons and sticks, electric shocks to various body parts [and] mock executions” were among the methods described.
Many said they had suffered threats of death and violence to themselves or a loved one, various forms of humiliation and “a variety of stress positions.”
UN Slams Russia For Torture Of Ukrainian Civilians – The Whistler Newspaper
Russian authorities subjected civilian detainees in occupied Ukrainian territories to widespread torture, including sexual violence, the United Nations said on Tuesday. Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, civilians detained in occupied regions have faced “consistent patterns of serious violations” of international law. Investigators interviewed 216 civilians released from Russian-controlled detention since June 2023. Of those, 92 per cent gave “detailed and consistent accounts’ of torture or other forms of ill-treatment. Ukraine held over 2,250 conflict-related detainees in pre-trial and penal facilities, mostly Ukrainian nationals.
In a new report, the UN rights office found that since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, civilians detained in occupied regions have faced “consistent patterns of serious violations” of international law.
The investigators interviewed 216 civilians released from Russian-controlled detention since June 2023. Of those, 92 per cent gave “detailed and consistent accounts” of torture or other forms of ill-treatment.
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The testimonies described severe beatings with sticks and batons, electric shocks to sensitive body parts, mock executions, threats of death and violence against relatives, humiliation, and being forced into painful stress positions.
According to the UN, Many victims endured multiple forms of abuse during their captivity.
The UN noted that Ukrainian authorities in May 2025 estimated that around 1,800 civilians were still detained by Russia, though the actual figure is believed to be significantly higher.
It warned that Russia’s disregard for legal safeguards and lack of accountability had effectively left many detainees “outside the protection of the law.”
UN rights chief Volker Türk said civilians had been “arbitrarily picked off the streets in occupied territory, charged under shifting legal bases and held for days, weeks, months and even years.”
He stressed that the rights of civilian detainees must be prioritised in any peace negotiations.
The report also pointed to cases of torture and ill-treatment by Ukrainian authorities. As of July, Ukraine held over 2,250 conflict-related detainees in pre-trial and penal facilities, mostly Ukrainian nationals.
Many faced charges of treason, espionage, or collaboration, with the UN noting that even acts such as emergency services, construction, humanitarian aid, or garbage collection under Russian occupation had led to prosecutions.
Meanwhile, Russian aerial strikes overnight killed two people in Ukraine, officials said.
AFP reports that one person died in the Zaporizhzhia region and another in Odesa after Russia launched three missiles and 115 drones, most of which were intercepted.
Ukraine’s Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko accused Russia of “continuing its terror against the people of Ukraine,” while renewing calls for more Western air defence support.
Russia’s defence ministry claimed it shot down 69 Ukrainian drones over its territory, including more than a dozen that targeted the capital, Moscow.