UN condemns ‘shocking pattern’ of sexual violence by Russian troops in Ukraine
UN condemns shocking pattern of sexual violence in Ukraine
Poinews.com – The UN condemns what it describes as a shocking pattern of sexual violence connected to Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine. A new report from the UN human rights office documents more than 1,000 cases of conflict-related sexual violence from 24 February 2022 to the end of July 2026.
The 20-page report records 1,004 cases involving survivors aged between four and 82. Its findings are based on confidential interviews with hundreds of survivors, alongside court documents and official records.
“I am deeply alarmed by the prevalence of these abhorrent acts documented in our report, and fear that they are almost certainly continuing amid the unceasing violence we are witnessing every day in Ukraine,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said.
Russian forces were linked to most documented cases
Russian troops were identified as perpetrators in 89% of the documented cases. Men accounted for most recorded victims, particularly among people held in detention, while women and children faced severe abuse in areas occupied by Russian forces.
The report says the abuse was not isolated misconduct. It describes sexual violence as part of broader torture, coercion and humiliation directed at civilians, detainees and prisoners of war.
Reported crimes against Ukrainian prisoners of war and detained medical personnel included gang rape, genital mutilation and other sexually degrading treatment. In 155 cases, or 27% of the total, survivors reported the use of a Soviet-era military field telephone known as a “tapik” to administer electric shocks to the genitals.
Testimonies also described assaults involving batons, cell-door keys and shovel handles. The accounts point to profound physical and psychological harm, especially for detainees cut off from family, medical care and other support.
Civilians described assaults in occupied areas
The UN report includes accounts from civilians in occupied and contested areas. In Zaporizhzhia, one woman said a Russian soldier raped her several times a week for a month while suggesting her detained husband could receive better treatment.
A woman from Kherson described assaults taking place night after night, accompanied by threats of gang rape. In the Kyiv region in 2022, two Russian soldiers allegedly killed a woman’s husband before gang-raping her and threatening to shoot her in front of her four-year-old son if she resisted.
The findings add to evidence gathered by the UN Human Rights Council’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, which has separately documented extensive torture of Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war in occupied territory and inside Russia.
“Sexual violence is a grave feature of the full-scale armed attack against Ukraine. It must stop immediately, irrespective of the perpetrators,” Türk said.
Cases attributed to Ukrainian forces were also included
The UN recorded 11% of cases as involving Ukrainian forces. Nearly half concerned threats of sexual violence against Russian prisoners of war or prisoners from third countries.
Other allegations included forced nudity, genital electric shocks, beatings to the genitals and sexually degrading treatment. The report also listed two sexual assaults and two attempted rapes.
Russia was added in May to the UN Secretary-General’s list of parties credibly suspected of committing sexual violence in conflict. The Kremlin rejected the findings as politically motivated, while Ukraine’s foreign ministry said the report showed the scale of alleged systematic violations by Russia.
Frequently asked questions
What period does the UN report cover? It covers documented cases from 24 February 2022 through the end of July 2026.
How many cases were documented? The UN human rights office recorded 1,004 cases of conflict-related sexual violence involving survivors aged from four to 82.
Who was linked to most cases? Russian troops were identified as perpetrators in 89% of the cases included in the UN material, while 11% were attributed to Ukrainian forces.