Russian authorities committed war crimes and crimes against humanity through continuous attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine concluded in a new report presented to the UN General Assembly on Monday, UN News and the UN human rights office (OHCHR) reported.

Source: UN News, Oct 26

The commission said the attacks were war crimes of intentionally directing attacks against civilian objects, and crimes against humanity of other inhumane acts inflicting great suffering on civilians. The attacks "were carried out with intent" and were in line with Russia's "state policy to deprive the civilian population from essential energy supplies and cause suffering," the report said, according to CNN. CNN said it had approached the Kremlin for comment.

Source: CNN via KION, Oct 26

255People whose accounts the commission relied on, across nine Ukrainian oblasts
-21°CLowest temperatures recorded last winter while heating and power were out
29Countries from which men were trafficked and recruited, the commission said

Older people left cold and isolated

Investigators relied on accounts from 255 people who endured winter in Dnipro, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Poltava, Zaporizhzhia and Zhytomyr oblasts, as well as Ukrainian authorities, doctors and non-governmental organisations, UN News reported. Russian commanders ordering the attacks knew the heating facilities they targeted "were indispensable to the civilian population, particularly during the winter," the report said.

Source: UN News, Oct 26

"The scariest thing was to fall asleep and not to wake up; it was like torture to be scared of dying from cold," a 53-year-old man told the commission. A 74-year-old woman from Kyiv said: "I lay cold and hungry, without medicine, without anything." The report said older people who cannot use stairs and fear lifts can be left in unheated homes without electricity, water or life-support devices during air raid alerts.

Source: UN News, Oct 26

Large-scale drone and missile attacks last winter reduced Ukraine's thermal power generation capacity by 70 per cent in the most affected areas, according to Kyiv, CNN reported — a figure presented as Kyiv's assessment. Commission Chair Erik Møse warned that, as the cold season approaches, attacks have intensified once again, raising serious concerns for civilians' lives and health, OHCHR said.

Source: OHCHR, Oct 26

Trafficked recruits from 29 countries

The commission also cited "compelling evidence" that Russian authorities recruited men trafficked from 29 countries into the armed forces, in violation of international human rights law, using deception and coercion through agents in different countries, UN News reported. Soon after arrival, the men were forced to sign contracts in Russian with the Ministry of Defence; many have been killed or gone missing, while others surrendered or were captured, the report said. The commission called for all trafficked persons to be discharged.

Source: UN News, Oct 26

The commission also examined attacks by Ukrainian armed forces on energy infrastructure in Russia and in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, but said it was unable to investigate their impact inside Russia because Russian authorities did not allow access or respond to requests for information, UN News reported. The three-member panel — Erik Møse, Pablo de Greiff and Vrinda Grover — was appointed by the UN Human Rights Council in March 2022.

Source: UN News, Oct 26