UN Human Rights Briefing by Liz Throssell and Danielle Bell on Ukraine

“With 589 civilians killed and 2,685 injured, there was a 45 per cent increase in casualties on the previous three months,” spokesperson Liz Throssell told the biweekly press briefing in Geneva,

“These trends continued into September. The civilian casualty numbers for September are on track to be as high as in August. Intensive military efforts by Russian armed forces have forced the Ukrainian government to evacuate thousands from areas near the frontline. Attacks against cities across Ukraine, for example in Sumy, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia, have damaged and destroyed civilian property and infrastructure, including schools, hospitals, and even a geriatric care home,” Throssell said.

Danielle Bell, head of the UN Human rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, outlined the findings concerning prisoners of war and the impact of attacks on energy infrastructure.

Since February 2022, the HRMMU team has interviewed 377 Ukrainian POWs following their release from internment, and 434 Russian POWs interned in Ukraine. The report released today focuses on findings from interviews conducted over the past 18 months.

“A key finding of the report is that Russian authorities have subjected Ukrainian prisoners of war to widespread and systematic torture. We’ve interviewed 174 Ukrainians prisoners of war, and this includes 5 medics. Since march of last year and almost everyone single one provided credible and reliable details accounts of torture or severe ill-treatment,” Bell said.

“They described severe beatings, electric shocks, suffocation, tasering, prolonged stress positions, sleep deprivation, dog bites, mock executions, sensory deprivation, threats, degrading treatment, and humiliation, 68% reported sexual violence,” she said.

Torture or ill-treatment occurred throughout all stages of captivity—during interrogation, admission procedures, daily routines, and under appalling internment conditions.

.The Mission documented the deaths of 10 Ukrainian POWs due to torture, poor conditions, or inadequate medical care. Bell said.

“The routine nature of the abuse, occurring on a daily or weekly basis and continuing throughout the period of internment, indicated knowledge of facility supervisors. Russian public figures have openly called for the inhumane treatment and execution of Ukrainian POWs, often using dehumanizing language in public forms and state-owned media,” Bell added.

The report also details the resulting harm to civilians of the Russian Federation’s attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

“The cascading damage from these attacks has affected essential services like electricity, water, heating, sewage, public health, and education. Vulnerable populations— for example: older persons, persons with disabilities, low-income households and children —have been disproportionally affected,” she said.

ENDS

For more information and media requests, please contact:

In Geneva

Ravina Shamdasani - + 41 22 917 9169 / ravina.shamdasani@un.org or

Liz Throssell - + 41 22 917 9296 / elizabeth.throssell@un.org or

Jeremy Laurence - +41 22 917 9383 / jeremy.laurence@un.org

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