The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded that Russia executed on the spot 77 civilians who had been arbitrarily detained in the occupied territories of Ukraine since February last year, which is a “war crime and gross violation of humanitarian law.” international,” reported AFP and Agerpres.

Matilda Bogner, head of OHCHR’s office in Ukraine, said during a live video conference that the actual number of such executions was “probably much higher, perhaps even twice as much,” but was unable to investigate the deaths of other civilian prisoners.

The OHCHR report on Ukraine, presented on Tuesday in Geneva, covers the period between February 24, 2022 – the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine – and May 23, 2023.

The document provides evidence of over 900 arbitrary arrests of civilians, including children and the elderly; in most cases, the Russian Federation is responsible for the relevant facts.

OHCHR recorded 864 arbitrary arrests by Russian military, law enforcement and penitentiary authorities, who also committed “acts of torture and general ill-treatment of civilian detainees.”

According to the report, the Ukrainian authorities, especially the Security Service, are also guilty of such abuses, usually against those suspected of committing war crimes. Many of the 75 confirmed arbitrary arrests were accompanied by the disappearance of detainees, and “more than half” of the suspects were ill-treated or even tortured by security forces during interrogation, usually immediately after arrest, the report cited said.

Russia did not allow the UN to conduct any on-site investigation

OHCHR’s findings are based on 1,136 dialogues with victims, witnesses and others, 274 site visits and 70 inspections of official detention facilities run by the Ukrainian authorities, which have granted “completely free but confidential” access to all facilities and all detainees. with one exception.

It concerns 87 Russian civilian sailors who were forced to remain on a ship in the Odesa region for several months before being released or exchanged with other prisoners. Bogner did not provide any explanation for the denial of access in this case.

The Russian authorities did not allow access to any of the places to which OHCHR appealed.

The new report comes after the United Nations announced last week that it had added the Russian military to a global list of organizations responsible for killing children, confirming that Russian forces and affiliated groups killed 136 children in Ukraine last year.

The UN also confirmed that Russian forces maimed 518 children and carried out 480 attacks on schools and hospitals. 91 children were used as human shields, the report said.

Russia has consistently denied that its forces were behind any war crimes since the Buch massacre was revealed last April.

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