Systematic Torture of Ukrainian POWs and Civilian Detainees

A March 2024 UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission report, based on interviews with 60 recently-released Ukrainian POWs, found that almost every single one described being tortured by Russian personnel — repeated beatings, electric shocks, threats of execution, prolonged stress positions, and mock executions — and that over half had been subjected to sexual violence. A follow-up UN Commission of Inquiry investigation in September–October 2024 found the practices were consistent across multiple detention facilities and involved coordinated participation by specific Russian state services, concluding Russian authorities acted "pursuant to a coordinated state policy" amounting to crimes against humanity.