Published on: 2026-10-26
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
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The report states that Russian authorities committed war crimes by deliberately striking civilian targets, as well as crimes against humanity. The Commission experts also concluded that Russian authorities “were involved in human trafficking, recruiting men from various countries into the Russian armed forces, which is a violation of international human rights law.”
Consequences of strikes on the energy sector
The commission studied the consequences of large-scale attacks by the Russian armed forces on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure for the civilian population, especially during the harsh winter of 2025–2026, as well as the cumulative effects of these strikes since autumn 2022. According to experts’ statements, systematic waves of attacks involving hundreds of drones and missiles are becoming more frequent and intense each year and cover increasingly extensive areas, causing significant damage to Ukraine’s energy sector.
According to the report’s authors, last winter, when the temperature dropped to minus 21 degrees, millions of residents of Ukraine faced prolonged interruptions in the supply of heat, electricity, water, and gas and were forced to “live in unbearable conditions.”
“With the approach of the winter season, attacks have once again increased, causing serious concern regarding the threats to the life and health of the civilian population,” said Commission Chairman Eric Messe.
Prolonged exposure to cold and the need to constantly find ways to survive place a significant strain on the physical and mental health of civilians, noted independent experts.
“The scariest thing is to fall asleep and never wake up; it was like torture – being afraid to die from the cold,” the Commission quotes a 53-year-old Kyiv resident. He said he tried not to sleep all night, fearing to fall asleep and die from the cold.
The situation of elderly people and children
According to the report, the elderly and people with limited mobility were especially severely affected. The authors explain that, fearing being trapped in elevators during sudden power outages, these individuals could not reach safe places during air raid alerts and were forced to remain in unheated apartments without electricity and water, lacking access to life-support devices and essential services.
The commission quotes the words of a 74-year-old resident of Kyiv: “I was lying there, freezing and starving, without medicine, without anything.”
The conditions of life for families with children were also particularly difficult, the Commission notes. The prolonged closure of schools during the acute energy crisis disrupted the educational process, and the lack of heating in homes led to illnesses, creating additional challenges for families.
Systematic attacks
According to the Commission’s assessment, Russian commanders who gave orders to carry out strikes were aware that the heating infrastructure targeted in major populated areas “is vital for the civilian population, especially during the winter period.” The Russian authorities, according to the report, officially declared their intention to continue the attacks and referred to plans to implement them. The Commission concluded that the Russian authorities committed “war crimes in the form of deliberately directing attacks against civilian objects.”
The collected evidence, according to the Commission members, indicates that waves of Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure “were deliberate in nature and carried out as part of a state policy aimed at depriving the civilian population of access to essential energy sources and causing them suffering.” The report’s authors also concluded that “the Russian authorities committed crimes against humanity in the form of other inhumane acts.”
During the investigation, the Commission interviewed 255 people who survived the winter in the Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Odessa, Poltava, Zaporizhzhia, and Zhytomyr regions. Experts also examined information provided by Ukrainian authorities, medical workers, and non-governmental organizations.
Attacks on energy infrastructure facilities in the Russian Federation
The Commission members reviewed the attacks by the Ukrainian armed forces on energy infrastructure facilities in the Russian Federation and in the occupied territories of Ukraine. However, they were unable to continue investigating the consequences of these attacks because, according to them, the Russian Federation did not grant them access to the relevant territories and did not respond to the Commission’s requests for information.
Recruitment of foreign citizens
While studying the recruitment of foreign citizens for service in the Russian armed forces, the Commission found “convincing evidence that Russian authorities engaged in human trafficking from 29 countries.” For this, according to the report’s authors, deception and coercion were used, as well as the assistance of agents and agencies operating in various countries.
According to information obtained by experts, agents and agencies contacting potential recruits in various countries impersonated representatives of legally operating companies or government-supported enterprises. They arranged visas and travel documents for groups of recruits, and in some cases accompanied them during the journey. However, according to testimonies, shortly after arrival, the men were forced to sign contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense, written in Russian. The commission reports a high degree of coordination between agents operating worldwide and the Russian authorities.
A woman whose husband was recruited in the Caribbean region said: “They took his passport and just told him to sign the contract here, here, and here. It was written only in Russian. My husband was heavily pressured and had no choice.”
“Men were sent to the frontline in Ukraine and assigned dangerous tasks. Many of them were killed or went missing. Others surrendered or were captured by the Ukrainian armed forces and received prisoner of war status,” the Commission members report.
Experts emphasize that international law prohibits attacks on civilians and civilian objects and call for such attacks to stop. They also call for the release from service in the Russian armed forces of all persons who have become victims of human trafficking.
The Independent International Commission of the United Nations on Ukraine is an independent body authorized by the UN Human Rights Council to, among other things, investigate all alleged human rights violations and breaches of international humanitarian law, as well as related crimes in the context of aggression against Ukraine by the Russian Federation.
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