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HRC - Press conference: Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine - 19 March 2025
Ukrainians tortured, raped, executed by Russian captors, Human Rights Council hears
The Human Rights Council on Wednesday heard gruesome testimony of torture, rape and execution of Ukrainian detainees and soldiers allegedly committed by Russian forces, as a high-level independent probe into Russia’s full-scale invasion delivered its latest mandated report in Geneva.
According to the Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, enforced disappearances of civilians committed by Russian authorities have been “widespread and systematic” and likely amount to crimes against humanity.
“Many persons have been missing for months or years and some have died,” said Erik Mose, Chair of the independent investigative panel, whose Commissioners are not UN staff nor paid for their work. “The faith and whereabouts of many remain unknown, leaving their families in agonizing uncertainty.”
Requests from families of missing persons to Russian authorities for information about their relatives are typically met with unhelpful replies, while one young man was “detained and beaten when he went to the authorities to enquire about his missing girlfriend”, the Commission noted.
As in previous presentations prepared for the Human Rights Council, the Commission’s latest report contains equally disturbing findings about the use of torture by Russian authorities, panel member Vrinda Grover told journalists in Geneva: “A civilian woman who had been raped during confinement in a detention facility held by Russian authorities stated that she pleaded with the perpetrators, telling them she could be their mother's age, but they dismissed her saying. ‘B***h, don't even compare yourself to my mother. You are not even a human. You do not deserve to live.’ We have concluded that Russian authorities committed the war crimes of rape and sexual violence as a form of torture.”
Ms. Grover noted that the Commissioners’ investigations confirmed that members of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) “exercised the highest authority. They committed or ordered torture at various stages of detention, and in particular during interrogations, when some of the most brutal treatment was inflicted”.
Challenged about the focus on alleged rights abuses by Russian authorities in their latest report, the Commissioners noted that they had detailed alleged violations committed by the Ukrainian forces “whenever we have found [them]”.
Commissioner Pablo de Greiff also noted that despite more than 30 requests for information from Russian authorities about possible Ukrainian attacks, “we have received absolutely none” and pointed to evidence of reprisals against supposed collaborators working with the Russian authorities.
Another aspect of the independent rights investigators’ report involves a growing number of incidents in which the Russian armed forces apparently killed or wounded Ukrainian soldiers who were captured or attempted to surrender. “This constitutes a war crime,” Mr. de Greiff said, relaying the testimony of a former soldier who alleged that “a deputy brigade commander told the entire regiment, quote, 'Prisoners are not needed, shoot them on the spot.'”
STORY: Press conference - Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine
TRT: 03’05”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 19 March 2025 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
Speakers:
- Erik Møse, Chair, UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine
- Pablo de Greiff, Commissioner, UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine
- Vrinda Grover, Commissioner, UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine
SHOTLIST
- Exterior medium shot: Palais des Nations, Flag Alley
- Wide shot of podium with speakers.
- SOUNDBITE (English) - Pablo de Greiff, Commissioner, UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine: "The Commission examined a growing number of incidents in which the Russian armed forces killed or wounded Ukrainian soldiers who were captured or attempted to surrender. This constitutes a war crime."
- Medium shot of journalist holding camera.
- SOUNDBITE (English) - Pablo de Greiff, Commissioner, UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine: “The Commission found that both parties to the armed conflict using drones killed or wounded visibly injured soldiers who could no longer defend themselves. This is also a war crime.”
- Wide shot of journalists, participants in the press room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) - Pablo de Greiff, Commissioner, UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine: “One former soldier stated that in a meeting, a deputy brigade commander told the entire regiment. Quote, 'Prisoners are not needed, shoot them on the spot.' Close quote."
- Wide shot: speakers at podium.
- SOUNDBITE (English) - Vrinda Grover, Commissioner, UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine: “Russian authorities have committed torture pursuant to a coordinated State policy and as crimes against humanity. Personnel of the Federal Security Service, referred to as FSB in Russian, exercise the highest authority when present in detention facilities they committed or ordered torture during various stages of detention.”
- Medium shot of press room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) - Vrinda Grover, Commissioner, UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine: “A civilian woman who had been raped during confinement in a detention facility held by Russian authorities stated that she pleaded with the perpetrators, telling them she could be their mother's age, but they dismissed her saying. B***h, don't even compare yourself to my mother. You are not even a human. You do not deserve to live. We have concluded that Russian authorities committed the war crimes of rape and sexual violence as a form of torture.”
- Wide shot of journalists, participants in press room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) - Pablo de Greiff, Commissioner, UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine: “We documented some violations of human rights law committed by Ukrainian authorities against persons they accused of collaboration with Russian authorities.”
- Wide shot of speakers at podium.
- SOUNDBITE (English) - Erik Møse, Chair, UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine: “Many persons have been missing for months or years and some have died. The faith and whereabouts of many remain unknown, leaving their families in agonizing uncertainty.”
- Close up of journalist nodding.
- Close up of participant listening.
- Wide shot of journalists, participants in press room.
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As world’s water reserves change, countries must prepare for a new reality: WMO
New data showing that rivers were at their lowest level for decades last year provides further evidence that the climate crisis is real and countries must act immediately to protect themselves from the increasing threat to communities and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
The key findings from WMO’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 report covering the hydrological cycle and extreme events in the five-year period to last year:
- 2025 was one of driest years for river discharge in 35 years
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- Water storage on Earth’s land surface has decreased in past decade
- Widespread glacier loss across all regions for fourth consecutive year
- Asia and Africa are regions most affected by water-related disasters
- Water data availability has improved, but gaps remain in hard-hit areas
Highlighting the long-term decline in the Earth’s freshwater storage and glacier melt, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo explained that the planet’s water reserves used to act as a planetary “savings account” that absorbed the occasional dry season, avoiding a water crisis. “One of the central stories of the 2025 report is what is happening to that savings account? And the simple answer is that we are depleting it,” she told journalists in Geneva.
Groundwater reserves are equally stretched and have been in decline since 2014, WMO’s report states, with nearly two-thirds of monitored wells worldwide showing levels lower than the historical norm and indicating a shift “further toward deficit…not recovery”.
“At the same time, we are seeing more water-related disasters,” Ms. Saulo said, while also stressing that the currently strengthening El Niño “will increase the risk of drought in some areas, and flooding in others”.
Glaciers disappearing
In 2025, for the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass, leading to short-term hazards including floods and long-term water insecurity, according to WMO.
Responding to a question about whether the changing global water cycle might have contributed to the deadly Nepal-China flooding disaster, Ms. Saulo explained that melting ice and rock was just one factor in the chain of events that ultimately sent a massive and deadly wall of water and debris downstream on 26 August, killing at least 1,367 people.
“You asked if it could happen again? Absolutely; the problem in this region is that there’s 63,700 glaciers at the last count,” she told a Press Conference in Geneva. “Even if you’re looking with remote sensing with satellites at these glaciers, you might see some faults, you might see some slight shifting, that does not mean necessarily catastrophic collapse. So, in order to plan for this, it’s very, very difficult. But the international community is looking very hard at ways in which we can bring people together to solve some of these monitoring issues.”
Data indicates that glaciers shrank between 2023 and 2025 with cumulative losses of 1,400 gigatonnes of water – or about one third of annual fresh water needs.
Every major glacier region on Earth lost ice for the fourth consecutive year.
“All 19 glacier regions around the globe lost ice; in Central Asia, Iceland, the Russian Arctic and western Canada and the United States, it was among the three worst years on record,” said Wayne Jenkinson, WMO’s Director of Hydrology and Cryosphere.
Some regions with smaller glaciers such as Central Europe, the Caucasus, the western Canada and the United States may already have reached “peak water”, Mr. Jenkinson warned.
“After this point, the glacier gives less meltwater each year simply because there is less ice left to melt. That matters for every community downstream that relies on water during hot, dry summers,” he explained.
Narelle van der Wel, WMO’s Head of Cryosphere Monitoring, Predictions and Services, stressed that while some further glacier loss is unavoidable, the eventual scale of the decline is not predetermined.
“Some glacier loss is inevitable, but total loss of glaciers is not yet inevitable,” she said, pointing to emissions reductions as central to limiting future losses.
Preparing for moving baselines
The report does not attribute every observed change to climate change alone. WMO says pressure on water resources and natural variability also contribute.
Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
“The situation 30 years ago is not where we are today,” he said. Countries, he added, need to prepare “for those changes that have really already arrived”.
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