The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine published on Wednesday its first detailed report on the situation in the Ukrainian territories occupied by the Russian army since the start of the war in 2022, Reuters reports.

Although the UN did not have access to the occupied territories, the UN mission was based on interviews conducted with 2,319 people who were victims of or witnesses to the actions of the Russians.

“Many people living under the occupation suffered intimidation and repression, facing the threat of violence, arrest and punishment,” the report concluded, noting that no one had been prosecuted.

Moscow has repeatedly denied that its soldiers committed atrocities during the war.

Executions and torture

The UN report notes that its investigators documented the on-the-spot execution of 26 civilians in several incidents, such as house searches. Another 30 civilians also died during detention. Most of the executions took place between March and May 2022.

Russian troops also widely used torture against Ukrainian detainees. “The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights received credible and credible testimony regarding the treatment of 171 civilian detainees and found that 90 percent of them had been tortured or ill-treated,” the report said.

“The Russian armed forces, law enforcement agencies and penitentiary authorities used various types of violence: severe beatings, kicking, cuts, placing sharp objects under the nails, imitation of drowning or execution, as well as electric shocks,” the UN mission noted.

Sexual violence and arbitrary detention

The report also stated that 48 detained civilians, including a child, were subjected to sexual violence, including rape and mutilation. Also documented were 16 cases of sexual violence against civilians who were not arrested.

Arbitrary detention was also widely used by Russian forces during the occupation, and several people are reported missing. These detentions concerned mainly Ukrainian military and special services personnel, but also extended to other categories of the civilian population. A total of 687 arbitrary detentions were documented.

The UN also notes that the Russians forced local residents to accept Russian passports and used intimidation and violence to force people in areas such as education or security to work under the Russian system. And journalists were pressured to stop writing articles that were considered pro-Ukrainian.