According to a United Nations report, Russia has executed at least 77 civilians in arbitrary detention amid its ongoing conflict with Ukraine. The report, released on Tuesday, was based on records by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, which tracked 864 cases of arbitrary detention by Russia since the start of the invasion in February of the previous year. Many of these incidents also involved forced disappearances.
In a Geneva press briefing, the head of the UN mission Matilda Bogner revealed that the victims included 72 men and five women. Two additional male detainees succumbed to torture, inhumane detention conditions, and denial of medical care. Bogner stated that Russian forces, law enforcement, and penitentiary authorities extensively practised torture and mistreatment of civilian detainees.
The findings were based on over 1,136 interviews, 274 site visits, and 70 visits to official Ukrainian detention facilities. The report recorded over 900 cases of arbitrary civilian detention, including children and the elderly, with the majority perpetrated by Russia.
Bogner also reported 75 cases of arbitrary detention by Ukrainian security forces, largely involving individuals suspected of conflict-related offences. A substantial number of these cases included enforced disappearances, predominantly perpetrated by the Ukrainian Security Service. Bogner pointed out that over half of those arbitrarily detained were subjected to torture or ill-treatment by Ukrainian security forces, typically during interrogation shortly after the arrest. The mission, however, did not record any summary executions of civilian detainees by Ukrainian forces.
