I don't want anyone to look away because that is a privilege Ukrainians don't get. This is just a tiny fraction of the immeasurable amount of atrocities that have been going on for more than a year. And even more will never be confirmed or documented but forever haunting victims and their families and loved ones.
Excerpts from the official reports by the United Nations Independent Commission refering to findings about events in Ukraine since 24 February 2022.
The mother of a man executed in Kyiv Province stated: "I still wake up at night, stand in the dark and scream, call for my son and cry out of pain"."
"The attacks occurred when civilians were trying to evacuate or while carrying out
routine activities. In all the cases, the victims were wearing civilian clothes, were not armed, and were driving civilian cars, some with signs “children” on the windows. [...] The Commission interviewed survivors of attacks, as well as witnesses and relatives of those who were killed, and reviewed footage showing yet more damaged cars on this highway. [...] Some of them seemed deliberate, for example when soldiers opened fire on civilian cars that posed no risk because they had stopped or were driving away from them."
"Rapes were committed at gunpoint, with extreme brutality and with acts of torture, such as beatings and strangling. Perpetrators at times threatened to kill the victim or her family, if she resisted. In some cases, more than one soldier raped the same victim, or rape of the same victim was committed several times. In one incident, the victim was pregnant and begged, in vain, the soldiers to spare her; she had a miscarriage a few days later. Perpetrators also, in some instances, executed or tortured husbands and other male relatives. Family members, including children, were sometimes forced to watch perpetrators rape their loved ones."
"In Kyiv Province, in March 2022, two Russian soldiers entered a home, raped a 22-year-old woman several times, committed acts of sexual violence on her husband and forced the couple to have sexual intercourse in their presence. Then one of the soldiers forced their 4-year-old daughter to perform oral sex on him [...] In another village, Russian armed forces took a woman out of her house and forced her to go to a neighbouring house, where one of the soldiers of the Russian armed forces had shot dead a man who had tried to defend his wife. Two soldiers took both women to another house that served as their base. The soldiers proceeded to different rooms to rape and sexually assault the two women."
"The Commission confirmed cases of sexual violence in which Russian armed forces raped girls when entering or occupying civilian homes. Further, a 4-year-old girl could hear her mother screaming while she was raped in the adjacent room."
The extensive use of explosive weapons has caused immediate and long-lasting trauma and damage and has severely disrupted people's lives, forcing them to flee or live in fear. One older woman, who fled as hostilities raged in the Kharkiv area, told the Commission: "I don't live, I just exist; I have nothing left in my soul".
"Those who stayed were exposed to explosions and air raid sirens, and many witnessed traumatic events, including the killing or maiming of parents and loved ones. Parents, family members and aid workers described how all these factors had had a deep psychological effect on children. Some are afraid of loud noises, of being alone and of men, particularly men in uniform. [...] After an attack with explosive weapons in a residential area of Kharkiv a mother described how the attack had impacted her daughter, saying "she is very traumatized and will only sleep in the corridor; she also goes to the corridor every time she hears sirens during the daytime and starts to shake"."
"The Commission has documented patterns of wilful killings, unlawful confinement, torture, rape, and unlawful transfers of detainees in the areas that came under the control of Russian authorities in Ukraine. Violations were also committed against persons deported from Ukraine to the Russian Federation."
"Furthermore, when Russian authorities controlled areas during longer periods of time, they established dedicated detention facilities, used more diverse methods of torture, and in addition, targeted persons who refused to cooperate."
"[...] after initial detention in Ukraine, individuals were forcibly transferred and unlawfully deported through Belarus, or directly, to the Russian Federation [...] In the Russian Federation, victims were further held in detention facilities. [...] Many people are still missing from the areas that were under the occupation of Russian armed forces. [...] While relatives have received confirmation that some of them are in detention in the Russian Federation, the fate of many is still unknown."
"In the Russian Federation, confinement at times started with an abusive “acceptance procedure”. Victims reported electric shocks with a taser, beatings with a baton, suffocation with plastic bags, and forced nudity in front of others. A former detainee underwent beatings as a “punishment for speaking Ukrainian” and for “not remembering the lyrics of the anthem of the Russian Federation”. One woman said that she passed out a few times from beatings, but perpetrators woke her up to continue."
"The soldiers degraded and violated the dignity of the detainees. There was very limited access to food and water, and close to no access to medical care [...] In the yard, the soldiers randomly shot near the victims to scare them. Ten older persons died during the confinement as a result of the inhumane conditions [...] The Commission visited the basement and saw the writings of the confined victims on the wall listing the names of those who had died."
"Ukrainian and Russian officials have declared that hundreds of thousands of children have been transferred from Ukraine to the Russian Federation since 24 February 2022 [...] Parents or children told the Commission that during the children’s stay in the Russian Federation or in Russian-controlled areas in Ukraine, on some occasions, social services told the children that they would be placed in institutions, accommodated in foster families, or be adopted. Parents also told the Commission that in some places of transfer children wore dirty clothes, were screamed at, and called names. Meals were poor and some children with disabilities did not receive adequate care and medication. Children expressed a profound fear of being permanently separated from parents, guardians, or relatives."
