<mediadc-video-embed data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1656530238418,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"0000016b-0e59-daea-a7ff-0f5fee2e0002","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1656530238418,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"0000016b-0e59-daea-a7ff-0f5fee2e0002","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"rawHtml":"
var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ "div": "Brid_55911801", "obj": {"id":"27789","width":"16","height":"9","video":"1038131"} }); rn","_id":"00000181-b0e5-d578-a1dd-baff71990000","_type":"2f5a8339-a89a-3738-9cd2-3ddf0c8da574"}”>Video EmbedThe United Nations released a new report Wednesday regarding alleged war crimes and violations of international law committed by the Russian military in Ukraine.
The U.N.’s Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner’s new report detailed more than 100 cases of rape; damage done to about 230 schools, 182 medical facilities, and 72 houses of worship; and slightly fewer than 250 cases of arbitrary detention. The report is based on information from the start of the war to May 15, meaning the last six weeks of the war are not included.
RUSSIAN MILITARY DENIES HITTING MALL IN STRIKE THAT KILLED NEARLY 20
Ukrainian and Western leaders have repeatedly denounced the actions of the Russian military, which invaded Ukraine toward the end of February, amid documented and publicized attacks on densely populated civilian targets. Russia has frequently denied the validity of the allegations irrespective of the evidence. In many cases, Russian troops’ actions have only been uncovered after they retreated from areas they had been occupying.
The office is aware of 108 allegations of conflict-related sexual violence, roughly 75% of which were of rape. Russian forces or affiliated groups were accused of being the perpetrators in nearly 90 of the cases. The U.N. was able to verify 23 of these accounts, while the details of sexual violence and torture committed paint a horrifying picture.
“Russian troops apprehended a member of a village council in Kherson region twice, in mid-March and early April,” the report says. “The victim was tortured and faced threats of killing and sexual violence against himself and his family members. The perpetrators tried to extract information regarding pro-Ukrainian activists, current and former members of Ukrainian armed forces and their families who remained in the village. … During the second incident, perpetrators tied the victim’s hands, put a noose on his neck while he stood on the floor and kicked at his legs and genitals. This caused him to bend down reflexively, involuntarily strangling himself.”
The OHCHR documented 248 cases of arbitrary detention, and the majority of victims were active or former public officials, human rights defenders, or retired service members.
A school teacher in the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine was apprehended in late March and was subject to various forms of torture by the Russians.
“The victim faced eight sessions of torture, including beatings, electrocution, mock executions, digging a grave for himself, sexual violence and being held in a metal sweatbox. The torture was committed by Russian military, Russian-affiliated armed groups and staff of a penitentiary facility in the Russian Federation. Each of these sessions was conducted by different perpetrators, in different locations and applying different torture methods,” the report said.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Other major attacks include this week’s bombing at the Kremenchuk mall, where more than 1,000 civilians were located; an attack on a train station in Kramatorsk, killing at least 50 people; an attack on a maternity hospital in Mariupol; and the bombing of a Mariupol theater that was serving as a shelter, even though locals had spelled out the word “children” in Russian on the ground in the front and back of the facility to prevent such an attack.
The Ukrainian government and the International Criminal Court are investigating these alleged war crimes while getting support from the United States and other Western allies. Three Russian soldiers have been tried and convicted of war crimes, while one of them was sentenced to death and the other two to serve more than a decade in prison.
