A report by the United Nations says Russian forces summarily executed 77 civilians, five of them women, whom they had arbitrarily detained during the invasion of Ukraine.
Most of the detainees were reportedly suspected of conflict-related offences.
According to the BBC, the UN report also found a male detainee died from torture, inhumane conditions and denial of medical care.
Russia denies committing atrocities or attacking civilians in Ukraine.
The report documents 864 individual cases of arbitrary detention by Russia since it launched its invasion in February 2022.
Matilda Bogner, head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission, said in a briefing in Geneva yesterday: ‘We documented the summary execution of 77 civilians while they were arbitrarily detained by the Russian Federation.’
Ukraine also violated international law by detaining civilians, though on a much smaller scale, the report adds.
Bogner said there was also evidence that Russian forces and law enforcement had engaged in ‘widespread torture and ill-treatment of civilian detainees’.
She said: ‘Torture was used to force victims to confess to helping Ukrainian armed forces, compel them to cooperate with the occupying authorities, or intimidate those with pro-Ukrainian views.’
The BBC reports that the UN mission’s report is the latest evidence of atrocities carried out by Russian forces in Ukraine.
In April 2022, more than 400 bodies of civilians were found in Bucha, a town on the outskirts of Kyiv.
In March this year, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against President Vladimir Putin for suspected war crimes.
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