The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine welcomes the presentation of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) 38th periodic report on human rights situation in Ukraine, prepared by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU).
The document attests to gross violations of international law, human rights, and international humanitarian law by the aggressor state on the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
The report covers the period from December 1, 2023, to February 29, 2024. The document records an escalation of mass rocket and drone attacks across the territory of Ukraine, resulting in a sharp increase in civilian casualties and the destruction of critical infrastructure in areas distant from the frontline.
The report found that over the two years of full-scale Russian aggression, Russian armed forces have committed and continue to commit mass violations of international human rights and international humanitarian law against civilians and Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs), including killings, torture, forced transfer, and illegal detentions.
The OHCHR documented crimes committed by Russia during the reporting period, including killings of civilians, arbitrary detentions, torture, sexual violence against women and men etc.
The Russian occupying authorities, in violation of international humanitarian law, continue to impose Russian legal, administrative, and educational systems in the occupied territories of Ukraine. Furthermore, the imposition of Russian citizenship on Ukrainian children is documented, which is a violation of Article 50 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits changing their personal status.
HRMMU also documented instances of violations of international humanitarian law by the aggressor state against Ukrainian POWs.
OHCHR confirmed previously documented practices of widespread and routine use of torture and ill-treatment, deaths in custody, incommunicado detention, enforced disappearances, and dire conditions of detention of prisoners.
During the reporting period, the OHCHR documented a significant increase in allegations of executions of Ukrainian POWs, including reports of 32 such executions, significantly more than in any previous period.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine emphasizes that the horrific Russian crimes documented in the OHCHR report for three winter months require a decisive response from the international community and strengthening support for our state. The atrocities perpetrated by the Russian dictatorship must be stopped in Ukraine, and all Russian criminals must be held accountable. Otherwise, Russian terror and aggression will spread to other states.
We call on to the international community to unequivocally condemn the executions of Ukrainian POWs by Russian occupiers and their barbaric treatment in violation of all norms of international humanitarian law. Those guilty of these atrocities must face justice.
We urge international human rights monitoring mechanisms to continue their thorough and careful monitoring of human rights violations caused by Russian aggression, to provide the international community with objective conclusions based on verified facts and evidence.
Once again, we demand that the aggressor state ensure, in accordance with its obligations under the Geneva Conventions, unimpeded access of international human rights and other independent mechanisms to the territories of Ukraine, temporarily occupied by Russia, and to places of internment for Ukrainian prisoners of war.
We call on the international community to redouble efforts to combat Russia’s impunity, to hold the aggressor state accountable for all crimes committed, and to restore justice for all victims.
We also call on UN Member States to join international efforts to implement the Ukraine’s Peace Formula for a world where human rights and human dignity are paramount, and Russian terror and aggression are defeated.