UN Documents 1,004 Sexual Violence Cases In Ukraine, 89% Attributed To Russia

The United Nations documented 1,004 cases of sexual violence in Ukraine between February 24, 2022 and the end of July, attributing 89% of the verified cases to the Russian side and 11% to Ukrainian authorities.

The UN report, based on confidential interviews with hundreds of victims and survivors as well as judicial documents and official records, said the youngest victim was a four-year-old girl and the oldest was an 82-year-old woman.

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The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said, "I am deeply concerned about the spread of these heinous acts and fear they will continue amid the ongoing violence we witness daily in Ukraine."

Danielle Bell, head of the UN monitoring mission for human rights in Ukraine, told reporters in Geneva that the figure "represents only part of the reality," explaining investigators could interview only about 10 percent of detainees released by both sides and could not access Ukrainian territory under Russian control.

The UN report described abuses including "gang rape, rape and disfigurement of the genitals, electric shocks" and other humiliating acts of a sexual nature, with many male survivors reporting electric shocks to their genitals using a Soviet-era field military phone known as a "tapik."

In the account presented by the UN, a woman in Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine said a Russian soldier set up in her home and repeatedly raped her weekly for about a month in exchange for a promise of better treatment for her husband, who was then detained.

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The UN also said that nearly half of the cases attributed to Ukrainian authorities involved threats of sexual violence, while other cases included forced nudity, electric shocks, beatings to the genitals, and two attempted assaults.

Danielle Bell told reporters that the pattern was not comparable in scale or scope, clarifying that "Almost half of the cases attributed to Ukrainian authorities consisted exclusively of threats of sexual violence."

Türk urged Russia and Ukraine to investigate sexual violence incidents quickly, thoroughly, and impartially, and to ensure those responsible are fully brought to justice, warning that the violations "fall within a disturbing pattern of torture, intimidation, and coercion since the beginning of the conflict."

The UN report said its findings were not comprehensive because conflict-related sexual violence remains significantly under-reported, adding that Russia’s refusal to grant OHCHR access to occupied Ukrainian territory, prisoners of war, and civilian detainees meant the figures likely underestimated the true scale of violations.

Russia’s permanent diplomatic mission in Geneva declined to comment on the report, while Ukraine’s foreign ministry welcomed its publication and said it showed the scale of human rights violations perpetrated by Russia and measures taken by Ukraine to prevent such violence and compensate victims.

Türk reiterated his call for Russia to end the invasion "immediately, completely, and unconditionally" and to withdraw all its military forces from Ukrainian territory, in line with the United Nations Charter and international law.