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Ukrainian women and men held in Russian captivity as POWs and retained medical personnel suffered torture and ill-treatment, including sexual violence, by Russian authorities, consistent with previous findings by OHCHR on the systematic and widespread use of torture of Ukrainian POWs.

During the reporting period, OHCHR interviewed 42 Ukrainian POWs and retained medical personnel (31 men and 11 women) following their release from Russian captivity. The majority had spent more than two years in captivity. All interviewees provided credible and detailed accounts of torture during their captivity, including beatings and other forms of violence during the so-called “admission procedure”. Thirty-five of the interviewees were subjected to frequent and/or prolonged torture, including in multiple locations. These accounts are consistent with previous OHCHR findings that torture and ill-treatment of Ukrainian POWs in the hands of the Russian Federation has been widespread and systematic.

Since 24 February 2022, OHCHR has interviewed a total of 35 women POWs and medical personnel held in Russian captivity, out of whom 29 reported torture and ill-treatment. The 11 women POWs and retained medical personnel interviewed during this reporting period had all been subjected to torture and ill-treatment including sexual violence, beatings, stress positions, electric shocks, strangulation, prolonged solitary confinement, prolonged standing or physical exercises, humiliation through forced singing of Russian patriotic songs or shouting of Russian slogans, sleep deprivation, violence, and threats of death or physical violence. They also reported poor quality and insufficient quantity of food, severe overcrowding, unsanitary conditions in cells with insects, lack of access to water, toilet, shower, and hygiene items (including those related to menstruation), and lack of medical care (including sexual and reproductive health services for women such as access to gynaecologists). Most of the women described a state of almost constant stress and fear during internment, leading some to continued health problems.

In violation of its obligations under international law, 31the Russian Federation continued to implement Russian legislation in its entirety across the territory of Ukraine which it occupies, leading to further detention of civilians, many of whom were tortured or ill-treated, as well as ongoing restrictions on fundamental freedoms, property ownership, and cultural rights.

Civilians detained by the Russian Federation generally remain in custody for prolonged periods. Updated information about the treatment and conditions of civilian detainees becomes available only when detainees are released, since independent humanitarian monitors lack regular access to civilian detainees held in occupied territory of Ukraine and the Russian Federation. Cases documented by OHCHR showed that civilian detainees have suffered death in custody, torture and ill-treatment, and have complained of inadequate medical assistance in places of detention. The occupying authorities did not duly inform family members about the location and fate of detainees.

In line with previously identified patterns, two-thirds of the 18 released civilians interviewed by OHCHR (nine men and nine women) during the reporting period described enduring torture or other forms of ill-treatment in detention, including beatings, mock executions, electric shocks, suffocation and dire conditions of detention. Nine (three men and six women) were subjected to sexual violence, including application of electric shocks to genitals, forced nudity and threats of sexual violence. One of the women who was subjected to sexual violence also suffered a miscarriage as a result of torture by electric shock.

Since February 2022, OHCHR has documented 370 cases of sexual violence (against 252 men, 106 women, 10 girls, and 2 boys) perpetrated by members of the Russian armed forces, law enforcement authorities, and penitentiary services. Of these, 306 cases occurred in the context of detention, against 88 civilian detainees, 209 POWs and nine retained medical personnel (sexual violence in the context of detention affected mainly men and boys, with 246 men and one boy subjected to it, and 59 women subjected to it). Another 62 cases occurred against civilians in residential areas, the majority of whom were women and girls (45 women, 10 girls, 6 men, and 1 boy), and two cases (women) during processes of so-called “filtration”.