Hundreds of people have been detained or disappeared in Ukraine’s Russian-controlled Kherson region this year, and dozens may have been tortured, Yale University researchers concluded in a report backed by the US State Department.

“Russia must end these operations and withdraw its forces to end an unnecessary war it cannot and will not win — no matter how deplorable and desperate its tactics,” the State Department said in a statement accompanying the report.

The report, seen by Reuters ahead of publication on Friday, documents the detention and disappearance of 226 people in Kherson between March and October, a quarter of whom were allegedly tortured and five who died while in custody or shortly afterwards .

Last week, Russia withdrew its troops from a “pocket” on the west bank of the Dnieper in Ukraine that includes Kherson, the only regional capital it captured after the February invasion.

Russia denies that its troops target civilians or commit atrocities.

Nathaniel Raymond, the lab’s executive director, said the report backs up the United States’ pre-conflict warnings about Russia’s use of lists to capture and kill civilians.

“This is the most compelling evidence that this is happening,” Raymond said.

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