UN inquiry says Russia's attacks on Ukraine's energy system are war crimes and crimes against humanity
The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine said on Monday that Russian attacks on power and heating facilities were carried out with intent to deprive civilians of energy. It also said it had found evidence that men from 29 countries were trafficked into Russia's armed forces.
A UN-mandated investigative panel said on Monday 26 October that Russian authorities had committed war crimes and crimes against humanity by attacking civilians and Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, UN News reported.
In its latest report, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine said Russian commanders who ordered the attacks knew the heating facilities they targeted “were indispensable to the civilian population, particularly during the winter”. The three commissioners, Erik Møse, Pablo de Greiff and Vrinda Grover, based the findings on accounts from 255 people in nine Ukrainian regions, as well as Ukrainian authorities, doctors and non-governmental organisations.
According to CNN, which saw the report, it names President Vladimir Putin, former defence minister Sergei Shoigu, his successor Andrey Belousov and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov as responsible for planning or ordering the attacks. The report is being submitted to the UN General Assembly.
The commission said it had “compelling evidence” that Russian authorities, working with agents abroad, recruited men trafficked from 29 countries into the armed forces using “deception and coercion”. It said foreigners who joined Ukraine’s forces had done so “knowingly and voluntarily”. It also examined Ukrainian strikes on energy sites in Russia and occupied areas, but said it could not assess their impact in Russia because Russian authorities did not grant access or answer its requests.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X that the report “confirms what Ukrainians have experienced for years”. CNN said it had asked the Kremlin for comment. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday, in separate remarks, that Russian forces “continue to carry out massive strikes on Ukraine’s military industrial complex”, RTÉ reported.
Background: The commission was set up by the UN Human Rights Council in March 2022, shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion. Its members are independent experts, not UN staff. Russia and Ukraine are due to resume US-mediated trilateral talks in November, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky. See also: Russian strikes kill four in Dnipropetrovsk region, Zelensky says.
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