IV. Alleged Violations of International Humanitarian Law

A. Treatment of Persons in The Power of the Enemy

1. Wounded, Sick And Shipwrecked as Well as Medical Personnel

The mission gathered a large amount of evidence on attacks on hospitals, medical personnel, medical units and medical transports. This implies violations of the duty to respect and protect the wounded and the sick combatants and non-combatants, together with the medical personnel assisting them. The wounded and sick, as well as members of the medical personnel and chaplains, may in no circumstances renounce in part or in entirety the rights secured to them by IHL.⁴⁶⁴⁷

According to the Associated Press, Russian forces repeatedly attacked Ukrainian medical facilities, striking at hospitals, ambulances, medics, patients, and even newborns, with at least 34 assaults independently documented as of 29 May 2022.⁴⁷ Hundreds of hospitals and other medical institutions were destroyed leaving doctors without medicine to treat cancer or the instruments to perform necessary surgeries. According to the Ukrainian Health Ministry, Russian troops completely destroyed 101 hospitals in Ukraine, damaging or capturing nearly 200 ambulances.⁴⁸ As of 3 May 2022, President Zelenskyy denounced that, considering all medical facilities, Russian troops had destroyed or damaged nearly 400 healthcare institutions including hospitals, maternity wards, and outpatient clinics.⁴⁹

Such actions constitute breaches of IHL since the first Geneva Convention of 1864, founded on the principle of protecting the sick and wounded during armed conflict, and later included in 1949 GC I, GC II and GC IV,⁵⁰ and they can amount to war crimes according to the Rome Statute.⁵¹

As of 22 June 2022, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), reported that it medically evacuated 653 patients by train from war-torn eastern Ukraine to hospitals in safer parts of the country. Over the course of two months, namely between 31 March and 6 June 2022, it evacuated by train from war-torn eastern Ukraine and cared for over 600 patients, 355 of whom were injured as a direct result of the war. Over 40 percent of war-wounded people medically evacuated by MSF from war-affected parts of Ukraine have been elderly people and children.⁵²

During the nearly three months siege of the Azovstal steel plant, wounded Azovstal soldiers lived in filthy conditions, with open wounds bandaged with non-sterile bandage remnants, lacking medication and even food.⁵³ The United Nations and Ukrainian institutions claimed that the said sick or wounded combatants should be allowed to leave Ukraine's Azovstal steel plant.⁵⁴

The second mission, during its visit to Ukraine, learned that civilians and wounded combatants feared that they were not going to enjoy respect and protection under IHL by Russian forces. This information is also the basis for the media report of 9 June 2022, in which military patients at a military hospital in eastern Ukraine confirm that they, along with other hospital patients, are afraid of being directly targeted by Russian air strikes.⁵⁵

2. Respect For the Dead

During the mission, experts discovered images of soldiers and civilians on social media clearly showing that their remains were not being treated respectfully and buried as they should be under IHL.⁵⁶

The mission managed to confirm the failure of both belligerents to respect the dead. Before leaving the city of Bucha in March 2022, the Russians bombed a convoy of people that were leaving the city and they also targeted people who were on foot. They left their bodies twisted, broken and incinerated where they had fallen.⁵⁷

Among the cases gathered, it is worth recalling the images shown by the media on 17 May 2022, of the body of a Russian soldier lying amidst abandoned objects and detritus in Mala Rohan,⁵⁸ or the picture showing a Ukrainian taking a selfie in front of a refrigerated train used to store the remains of Russian soldiers in Kharkiv on 13 June 2022.⁵⁹ Regardless, the mission, during its visit to Ukraine, talked to relevant State authorities about the facts reported in the media and received assurances that Ukrainian military personnel receives periodic and continuous IHL trainings in order to avoid any violations, such as the violation of the obligation to respect the dead. In any case, any alleged violations are being investigated.

Another issue that has arisen during the ongoing conflict is the return of the remains of deceased persons to their home countries. As reported by the first mission, Ukraine accused Moscow of refusing any agreement to return the dead, according to IHL.⁶⁰ Ukraine argues this was done in order to conceal the extent of the country's losses. On the other hand, the rapidly shifting front lines have made it difficult to determine how many dead soldiers have been left behind by either side in enemy-controlled territory. On 4 June 2022 Ukraine said, in its first public acknowledgment of an exchange of the dead since the war began, that 320 bodies had been swapped on the front line in the Zaporizhzhia region, with each side receiving 160 of their dead.⁶¹ The remains include members of forces who died fighting at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol.

During its visit to Ukraine, the mission could ascertain the information that there is the will on the Ukrainian side to proceed with the restitution of the remains of deceased persons, although difficulties remain. Dozens of the dead taken from the now-Russian-occupied ruins of the bombed-out mill have been transferred to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, where DNA testing is underway to identify the remains.

3. Prisoners of War (POWs)

The conflict resulted in thousands of combatants on both sides being taken captive. Both sides appear to be using prisoners of war (POWs) in ways that breach IHL.⁶²

Videos on social media and messaging apps show soldiers on both sides being captured and humiliated and forced to disclose their names and other information, including their home addresses and the names of their parents.

As far as Ukrainian prisoners’ cases are concerned, on 8 June 2022, following a farce trial by the so-called Donetsk People's Republic's Supreme Court, three Ukrainian Armed Forces members, the Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, and the Moroccan Brahim Saadoun were found to be mercenaries and sentenced to death by firing squad. The sentence was deemed to be illegal because the defendants were classified as prisoners of war under IHL and were not charged with war crimes.⁶³ Media reports suggested Aslin and Pinner were integrated into the Ukrainian armed forces, which would suggest they fall squarely within the definition of persons entitled to POW status, according to the Third Geneva Convention of 1949 and the First Additional Protocol of 1977.⁶⁴

On 10 June 2022, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights condemned the death penalty and the trial, stating that "such trials against prisoners of war turn into a war crime" and emphasized that all of the defendants were members of Ukraine's armed forces and thus they should not have been considered mercenaries.⁶⁵

When Ukrainian POWs in May 2022 left the giant Azovstal steel plant in the city of Mariupol, Russia stated it had captured nearly 2500 Ukrainian soldiers from the steel plant,⁶⁶ although some media sources talk about more than 1700.⁶⁷ International institutions and NGOs denounce that Azovstal soldiers have been dehumanized by Russian media and portrayed as 'neo-Nazis', which raises serious concerns about their fate as POWs.⁶⁸ Russia's defence ministry also released videos purportedly of Ukrainian Azov fighters being treated "normally."⁶⁹ Officials in the so-called Donetsk People's Republic have spoken of putting some of the Azovstal defenders on trial for alleged human rights violations in Ukraine.⁷⁰ According to IHL, prisoners of war cannot be punished simply for being participants in armed conflict but may be if they engage in war crimes. In those instances, they nevertheless have the right to an orderly and fair trial in a court of law.⁷¹ According to GC III,⁷² “a prisoner of war shall be tried only by a military court and “in no circumstances whatever shall a prisoner of war be tried by a court of any kind which does not offer the essential guarantees of independence and impartiality." Russia's stance on the death penalty and its cessation of membership in the Council of Europe were also noted.⁷³

On the other side, the mission considered videos circulating on social media since 27 March 2022, filmed by Ukrainian soldiers, that show them inflicting wounds on and executing Russian prisoners of war.⁷⁴ A video from 6 April 2022 showed a wounded Russian soldier lying on the ground after being shot twice by a Ukrainian soldier, allegedly from the Georgian Legion.⁷⁵ The commander of the Georgian Legion, Mamouka Mamoulashvili, reportedly stated that his unit "will no longer take Russian military prisoners," justifying this violation as a "response" to the "Bucha massacre."⁷⁶

Further, on 13 May 2022, media outlets confirmed a video shot in Mala Rohan showing Ukrainian soldiers torturing Russian prisoners by shooting them in the knees.⁷⁸ The video showed captured soldiers bleeding from leg wounds and being questioned. Independent journalist investigations confirmed the location and implicated volunteers from the Ukrainian Slobozhanshchyna battalion.⁷⁹

The Head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine urged Russia and Ukraine to launch investigations into alleged ill-treatment of prisoners on both sides, reminding them of the obligation to treat POWs humanely and ensure they "are not exposed to public curiosity and are treated with dignity."⁸⁰ The adviser to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine said the case is being taken "very seriously" and will be investigated.⁸¹

During its visit to Ukraine, the mission was assured that the military forces' compliance with the IHL program, which included specific trainings, would be upheld and that each reported case will be forwarded to investigation and, if there is evidence of a potential violations, to judgment.

4. Civilians

In the section dedicated to the IHL of military occupation the mission report, like the first one, analyzes violations of IHL in the treatment of Ukrainian and foreign civilians, as nearly all these violations occurred in places controlled by the Russians. The results of the mission brought to the conclusion that, as in the first mission report, a special section for vulnerable categories, particularly children, should be included and analysed under IHRL in order to avoid duplication.

a) Humanitarian assistance

As the international armed conflict in Ukraine continues, the level of death, destruction, and suffering that continues to be inflicted on civilians is terrible and unacceptable.

As reported on 6 June 2022, to prevent cholera and dysentery outbreaks, a quarantine was imposed in Mariupol, a Russian-controlled area of Donetsk oblast. Several UN agencies, including the World Health Organization (WHO), have previously expressed concern about the deteriorating sanitary conditions in Mariupol and the possibility of a cholera outbreak.⁸²⁸³ Isolated cases of cholera have been reported since May 2022.⁸³

According to the WHO mission findings, the uncountable number of bodies left to rot in streets and building rubble is now contaminating the city's water supply;⁸⁴ the occupying power is unable to cope with the number of deaths and to bury the dead in mass graves. Aside from the bodies, there is the issue of all the decaying garbage that ends up in the water, the sea, and the sources of drinking water. Access to safe drinking water, internet access and phone services in Mariupol, as in other Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, remains extremely difficult. A lack of medicines and labs that can be used to fight infection has exacerbated the situation.⁸⁵

On 1 April 2022, the mayor of Mariupol claimed that Russia was preventing aid from reaching the besieged city and refusing to allow the opening of the planned "humanitarian corridor" that would have enabled civilians to flee heavy fighting in the town.⁸⁶ On 13 April 2022, the Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk claimed that Russian soldiers were blocking buses in violation of cease-fire agreements.⁸⁷ This situation is confirmed also by other countries that accused Russia of obstructing their humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. Greece claimed that Russia obstructed its delivery of humanitarian aid to Mariupol, besieged by Russian forces.⁸⁸

Other cities, namely the occupied Kherson, are likely to face a critical humanitarian crisis due to the shortage of medicines.⁸⁹ The Ukrainian Commissioner for Human Rights reported that, as of 26 May 2022, the occupiers were illegally importing drugs from the temporarily occupied Crimea into the Kherson region and selling them in local markets, endangering people's lives.⁹⁰ As of 22 June 2022, the Russians are accused of having eliminated any possibility of supplying medicine to the occupied Kherson region, resulting in people dying because they are unable to obtain the appropriate medicine in a timely manner.⁹¹

Generally speaking, the situation in areas occupied by Russian forces is catastrophic. This equates to cancer patients being left completely without medication; for diabetics, it means extreme difficulties or a complete lack of insulin.⁹² All of the above-mentioned conduct violates Ukrainians' right to medical care, as guaranteed by IHL.⁹³

It is worth noting that the Russians are forcing Ukrainian citizens to accept Russian passports under threat of looting and appropriation of their enterprises.⁹⁴

As a terrible by-product of the war, millions of Ukrainians are suffering from mental health problems. According to the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, 15 million people may need psychological support and treatment as a result of war-related trauma and stress.⁹⁵

b) Treatment of Ukrainians believed to sympathize with Russia

The mission was able to collect data regarding the treatment of Ukrainian citizens considered to sympathize with Russia. As of the end of April 2022, Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigations said more than 200 criminal cases on collaboration have been opened and a “registry of collaborators is being compiled and will be released to the public.⁹⁷ Approximately 400 people in the Kharkiv region alone have been detained under anti-collaboration laws. Authorities have banned 11 pro-Russian political parties.⁹⁸

As of 17 June 2022, 399 criminal proceedings have been opened for treason, and 127 proceedings for collaboration. The largest number of cases under these articles was initiated in Luhansk, Donetsk, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.

The Center for Civil Liberties claimed that "dozens" of pro-Russian activists have been detained in Kyiv alone. Under martial law, a person in Ukraine can be detained for up to 30 days without a court order and authorities can withhold information about their clients' remand.⁹⁹

The Ukrainian government is aware that, particularly in occupied territories, Ukrainian citizens are often obligated to sympathize with the occupying force and that there is a risk of feeding Moscow's narrative that Kyiv represses Russian speakers. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba stated, "the balance of national security and ensuring freedom of speech is endless .¹⁰⁰

c) Treatment of Detainees

Before the visit to Ukraine, the mission could gather information showing violations and abuses in civilian detainees‘ treatment in violation of the IHL.¹⁰¹

As of 6 May 2022, Ukraine‘s Ombudsperson for Human Rights denounced that Russian forces are already holding over 3,000 civilians from Mariupol in a former prison colony in Olenivka. Civilians are detained for at least 30 days as part of a filtration process.¹⁰² On 18 May 2022, Human Rights Watch documented seven cases of torture in Dymer, in which Russian soldiers beat, shocked, or staged mock executions to force detainees to provide information.¹⁰³ On 7 June 2022, 600 people are being held in specially equipped basements and torture chambers in the Kherson region.¹⁰⁴

Cases of Ukrainian civilians detained by Russian soldiers, transported across the Russian border, and held in a tent camp in Glushkovo, Russia and in a prison in Kursk for several weeks were reported. Some spent their first days in captivity outside, in a pit in the ground lined with cardboard. The interviewees shared similar stories of violence and humiliation reporting that they had been continuously beaten with boxing gloves as well as stun guns that deliver an electric shock. As a result, some people have had parts of their feet amputated.¹⁰⁵

5. International Humanitarian Law of Military Occupation

a) Administration of the occupied territory

As previously reported by the first mission, Russia distinguishes between areas belonging to the Ukrainian Luhansk and Donetsk regions and other newly occupied territories in terms of administration, public property located therein, and applicable legislation.

Those areas in Ukraine's Luhansk and Donetsk regions are subject to the administration, "laws" and institutions of the respective "republics", in violation of IHL.¹⁰⁶ In other newly occupied areas, Russia has established "Komendaturas" which is a type of civil administration by the occupying forces aimed at adopting and enforcing only rules deemed necessary to protect its forces' security or to maintain law and order, which is in principle not prohibited under IHL.¹⁰⁷

The mission gathered information indicating that a process of establishing a "people's republics" lifestyle, including practices such as conferring Russian citizenship, is underway in the new areas occupied by Russian forces during the current invasion.

The Ukrainian government has condemned Russian occupation authorities in southern Ukraine for issuing Russian passports to residents of Kherson and Melitopol. The move has been denounced by Ukraine as a "blatant violation" of its territorial integrity. Russia has been issuing passports to inhabitants of Ukrainian regions controlled by the Russian military since 2014, including Crimea and much of the Donbas.¹⁰⁸ Furthermore, local media sources claim that in the newly occupied territories, the occupants are compelling Ukrainians into getting a Russian passport by torturing or paying them.¹⁰⁹ During its visit to Ukraine, the mission learned that Ukrainians are required to obtain a Russian passport in order to protect their property and safety.

On 23 May 2022, President Putin signed a decree streamlining the procedure to obtain Russian citizenship and passports for residents in the Russian-occupied Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. The directive is a step towards the "russification" of the two territories.¹¹⁰

b) Enforced Disappearances

While the full extent of enforced disappearances in Ukraine is currently unknown, available information indicates that Russian forces have abducted active and outspoken community leaders, journalists, and political activists on a systematic basis. There is evidence that many mayors have been arrested, detained, or abducted. The disappearances are often followed by a refusal to provide information about the fate or location of the abducted.¹¹¹

The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine documented 204 cases of apparent enforced disappearances involving 169 men, 34 women, and a boy, attributed in the vast majority to Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups.¹¹² Ukraine's national police have received over 9,000 missing person reports and nearly 800 cases of enforced disappearances have been documented by Ukrainian authorities.¹¹³ The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) confirmed that at least two victims (Oleg Baturin and Viktor Maruniak) were tortured or ill- treated by the Russian military or by intelligence personnel.¹¹⁴

Witnesses reported that the perpetrators wore white or red armbands and drove in vehicles marked with a "Z," a symbol of Russian military support.¹¹⁵ The goals of enforced disappearances are to: 1) to coerce victims into assisting Russian troops 2) to exact vengeance 3) to prevent any activity (including humanitarian) that is not sanctioned by the occupiers.¹¹⁶ On 13 June 2022, Human Rights Watch claimed that a teacher, Viktoria Andrusha, was forcibly disappeared, and Russian forces forcibly transferred Andrusha to Russia.¹¹⁷

Concerns have been raised about children who have gone missing. Over 2,200 children have gone missing in the three months since the war began.¹¹⁸ OHCHR is concerned about the Russian authorities' alleged plans to allow the movement of children from Ukraine to families in the Russian Federation.¹¹⁹

c) Allegations of Summary Executions

The first mission found evidence that Russian forces subjected civilians to summary executions, torture, and other grave abuses, all of which amount to war crimes.¹²⁰ On 15 April 2022, the Kyiv regional police force reported that 900 civilian bodies had been discovered following Russia's withdrawal from the area, including over 350 of them discovered in Bucha. According to evidence gathered by the police, nearly 95 percent were "simply executed".¹²¹ Police in the Kyiv region discovered a "torture chamber" in the basement of a children's sanatorium in Bucha. The bodies of five men with their hands tied behind their backs were found there.¹²²

The New York Times published videos on 19 May 2022 showing Russian soldiers leading a group of civilians away and forcing them to the ground, with their dead bodies later discovered at the same location.¹²⁴ In the Region of Kyiv, Human Rights Watch investigated 22 apparent summary executions and 9 other unlawful killings.¹²⁵

d) Administration of Public Property.

The mission gathered information on Russia's administration of Ukrainian public property in violation of IHL and ICL.¹²⁷ A "decree" on the "nationalization" of Ukrainian property was adopted in the occupied territories of Zaporizhzhia oblast in order to plunder and appropriate land, natural resources, strategic industries, and Ukrainian property.¹²⁸ This “decree concerns also Zaporizhzhia’s nuclear plant which is the largest in Europe.¹²⁹

e) Respect for Private Property

Survivors of the Bucha massacre claimed that Russian soldiers ransacked the city, taking jewellery, electronics, kitchen appliances, clothes, and vehicles.¹³⁰ Evidence of "systematic looting" was discovered in Trostianets.¹³¹ A Telegram channel reported that Russian soldiers were sending large packages to Russia via a courier service, believed to contain items stolen by Russian soldiers.¹³² There have been reports of Russian forces setting up bazaars in Belarus to trade looted goods.¹³³

An important issue concerns the grain looting that Russia is accused of. The Ukrainian Defence Ministry accused Russia of stealing "hundreds of thousands of tonnes of grain".¹³⁴ Grain theft... could worsen the Ukrainian food crisis and even exacerbate global hunger.

B. Conduct of Hostilities

1. General Assessment of Violations of IHL Targeting Rules

The number of civilians killed and injured grows week by week. This is evident by comparing the latest updated reports of the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission.

As of 22 June 2022, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded 10,465 civilian casualties in Ukraine: 4,662 killed and 5,803 injured.

In Donetsk and Luhansk regions, there were 5,945 casualties (2,725 killed and 3,220 injured). In other regions under Government control, there were 4,520 casualties (1,937 killed and 2,583 injured).¹⁶²

Most of the civilian casualties recorded were caused by the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems, and missile and air strikes.

OHCHR believes that the actual figures are considerably higher, as information from some locations with intense hostilities is delayed and reports are still pending corroboration. This concerns, for example, Mariupol, Izium, Popasna, Lysychansk, and Severodonetsk.¹⁶³

Journalist Casualties

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 12 journalists covering the war in Ukraine have been killed as of May. Hundreds more journalists have been shelled, shot, and detained in relation to their activity.¹⁶⁴

Recent Attacks on Civilian Areas

Daily reports of civilians being killed or injured continue. Along with the worst of the hostilities, the majority of casualties were reported in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, mostly resulting from the shelling of civilian areas and civilian facilities, including schools.

• The Mykolaiv region is still being heavily attacked by missiles. On 22 June 2022, the regional Governor reported that seven missiles had hit Mykolaiv.¹⁶⁵ The attacks damaged a number of residential and business buildings, a school, and killed at least one person.¹⁶⁶
• On 26 June 2022, in Kyiv, a Russian missile struck a residential building and a kindergarten, killing at least 2 persons and injuring 11.¹⁶⁷ A seven year-old girl was immediately pulled from the rubble.

Damage to Civilian Infrastructure

In the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, many civilian facilities continue to be damaged. For instance, on 2 June 2022, Donetsk oblast authorities reported that water supply had been disrupted for two weeks in several cities, including Sloviansk and parts of Kramatorsk, due to damaged electricity infrastructure.¹⁶⁸

2. Sieges and Humanitarian Corridors

Sieges

Mariupol

The siege of Mariupol lasted from 24 February 2022 to 16 May 2022. The ICRC considered the situation as "apocalyptic".¹⁷⁰

• City officials reported that about 22,000 civilians had died.¹⁷¹
• Ukrainian officials claim at least 95 percent of the city was destroyed.¹⁷²
• The UN confirmed the deaths of 1,348 civilians, but added that the true death toll was "likely thousands higher," and that 90% of the city's residential buildings had been damaged or destroyed.¹⁷³
• The siege ended with the "evacuation" or "surrender" of the remaining Azov Regiment personnel from the Azovstal Iron and Steel Work. More than 2,500 plant fighters are being held captive.¹⁷⁴
• Russia began handing over the bodies of Ukrainian fighters killed at the Azovstal on June 7 for DNA testing in Kyiv.

Severodonetsk

As of the end of June 2022, the assault on Severodonetsk had been ongoing for nearly two months. Russian forces were concentrating their firepower, using all their munitions.

• Hundreds of civilians, including dozens of children, had taken refuge in the Azot chemical plant amid intense urban combat. It provided little protection below ground, unlike the Azovstal plant.¹⁷⁵
• The Azot plant became a focal point of Ukrainian resistance.¹⁷⁶
• On 12 June 2022, Russian forces destroyed the last bridge across a river to the Ukrainian-held twin city of Lysychansk, making the evacuation of civilians more difficult.¹⁷⁷
• Approximately 12,000 people are still trapped inside the city, with concerns about a lack of water, sanitation, food, and medical supplies.¹⁷⁹

Humanitarian Corridors

Humanitarian corridors remain an important issue, though the situation is improving compared to the early months of the conflict. Corridors are critical for residents to flee and for deliveries of food and medicine.

• On 5 April 2022, the Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister announced the opening of seven humanitarian corridors.¹⁸⁰ This number rose to ten by 9 April.¹⁸¹
• On 5 April 2022, the Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister denounced that Russian forces were refusing to allow anyone to enter Mariupol and that International Committee of the Red Cross representatives were denied entry to Manhush (near Mariupol).
• Russian soldiers have been accused of blocking buses in violation of cease-fire agreements meant to allow humanitarian aid and people into and out of occupied areas.¹⁸²

3. Targeted Attacks on Individual Civilians

Bucha Massacre and Torture Chambers

Following the withdrawal of Russian forces from Bucha at the end of March 2022, evidence of targeted, organized killings of civilians emerged:

• Journalists saw at least twenty corpses dressed in civilian clothing lying in the street.¹⁸³
• As of 15 April 2022, the Kyiv regional police reported that 900 civilian bodies had been discovered in the region, with over 350 discovered in Bucha.¹⁸⁴
• The police estimated that nearly 95 percent of the victims were "simply executed," often found shot dead with their hands tied behind their backs.
• A photo and information on one man and two or three naked women under a blanket were allegedly burned by Russian soldiers on the side of a road before fleeing.¹⁸⁵
• Torture chambers separated by concrete walls were discovered in a summer camp in Bucha. Findings suggested prisoners were tortured: tied to bedsprings and interrogated; strapped to a wooden plank and waterboarded.¹⁸⁷
  • In one chamber, five dead men in civilian clothes were discovered, covered with burns, bruises, and lacerations.
• In Zabuchchya, a village in the Bucha district, 18 mutilated bodies of murdered men, women, and children were discovered in a basement; some had their ears cut off, while others had their teeth pulled out.¹⁸⁸
• New evidence from a May 2022 video dated 4 March 2022 showed Russian paratroopers marching captive civilians at gunpoint to a location where they would be later executed.¹⁸⁹
• Torture chambers were also found in Trostyanets, Sumy oblast.

Other Targeted Killings

• Vorzel (west of Bucha): Russian soldiers reportedly killed a woman and her 14-year-old child after throwing smoke grenades into the basement where they were hiding.¹⁸⁶
• Mokhnatyn village (northwest of Chernihiv): Russian forces allegedly shot and killed 17-year-old twin brothers and their 18-year-old friend on 14 March 2022, as a Russian convoy passed through.¹⁹⁰ Human Rights Watch documented nine cases of Russian forces opening fire on and killing civilians for no apparent military reason.
• Kreminna (Luhasank Oblast): Russian forces were accused of shooting four civilians fleeing in their cars during the city's capture on 18 April 2022. Intentional attacks against the elderly were also recorded.¹⁹¹
• Kherson region: Testimonials contend that Russian soldiers are shooting at and wounding civilians who wish to leave or enter the region.¹⁹²
• Kyiv (26 June 2022): A precise missile strike hit a residential building and a kindergarten, killing one person and wounding six more.¹⁹³

4. Arming of the Civilian Population

The first mission reported that as soon as the war started, the Ukrainian government mobilized and conscripted all males between the ages of 18 and 60, as previously said in Section IV.A.5.g. The Ukrainian government has also begun paramilitarizing the civilian population, distributing over 18,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles in Kyiv alone.¹⁹⁴ The government is also encouraging citizens to engage vastly superior Russian forces with Molotov cocktails, with breweries now mass producing petrol bombs. Ukraine passed a law titled "Ensuring Civilians' Participation in Ukraine's Defence," which governs the procedure for issuing and returning firearms and ammunition to civilians in order to protect the country during wartime and states that civilians are not responsible for the use of firearms against persons who commit armed aggression against Ukraine.¹⁹⁵

Taking into account the observations of the first mission, the mission looked into whether civilians had been asked to gather weapons and make Molotov cocktails to fight Russian invaders. No supporting information was found during the second expert mission. After discussions with Ukrainian institutions, particularly the Office of the Ombudsperson, the mission has also received assurances that civilians have not been involved in any way in these operations and that the armed forces receive special training designed to ensure adherence to human rights and IHL.

5. Human Shields

The mission confirmed the use of non-combatants as human shields, contrary to Article 51(7) of AP I to the Geneva Convention.¹⁹⁶ Evidence was gathered on episodes reported in the media since April.

Allegations of Russian Forces Using Civilians as Human Shields

• Yahidne School (Chernihiv region): Russian soldiers reportedly used over 300 Ukrainian civilians as human shields, holding them captive for 25 days in March in the basement of the school, where a major Russian military camp was located.¹⁹⁷
  • Reports indicate 12 elderly people died in the cellar, and locals were tortured and killed.
• Novyi Bykiv village (near Kyiv): Russian units withdrawing from the village allegedly placed Ukrainian children's carriages in front of their tanks to protect themselves.¹⁹⁸
• Obukhovychi and Ivankiv (near the Belarussian border):
  • In Obukhovychi, villagers claim Russians kidnapped them at gunpoint and held them captive in a school to hold back advancing Ukrainian forces.
  • In Ivankiv, witnesses reported that on 14 March, Russian soldiers rounded up about 150 civilians and locked them up in a local school, where they were used as protection.¹⁹⁹
• Multiple Regions: The Ukrainian Ombudsman for Human Rights claims that Russian soldiers have used Ukrainian children as human shields in the Sumy, Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Zaporizhzhia regions.²⁰⁰
• Hostage-taking: It was claimed that children had been held as hostages in a number of flashpoints of violence across the nation to prevent locals from providing the Ukrainian forces with the enemy's movement coordinates.²⁰¹

Allegations of Ukrainian Forces Using Civilians as Human Shields

Russia claims that human shields were used on the Ukrainian side.²⁰²

• The mission could gather some media information and a video published by Der Spiegel reporting the testimony of a Ukrainian woman who accused Ukrainian forces and Azov fighters of using civilians trapped in the Azovstal plant as human shields.²⁰³
• However, a representative of the State's body during the visit to Ukraine excluded the use of civilians as shields by Ukrainian forces.

6. Passive Precautions to be Taken by the Defender

Prisons and Prisoners in Conflict Zones

The mission found that there are currently 33 prisons in areas with active hostilities, housing an estimated total of 48,000 prisoners.

• Five prisons were targeted by shelling, specifically damaging pre-trial detention facilities in Mariupol and Chernihiv, and three other prisons in the Mariupol, Berdiansk, and Kharkiv regions.
• During the shelling, both prisoner staff and prisoners were in bomb shelters.
• Some Ukrainian prisons are no longer under Ukrainian government control, particularly those in the Kherson Oblast, Mykolaiv Oblast, Luhansk Oblast, and other regions controlled by Russian Federation forces.
• The Ministry of Justice expressed concerns about the living conditions of prisoners in these occupied facilities.

Ukrainian Government Efforts

The Ukrainian government is making efforts to ensure the welfare and safety of prisoners:

• The government is trying to keep prisoners informed and provide them with food, water, and medical care.
• It is making efforts to evacuate prisoners from prisons that may soon be occupied as well as the most dangerous areas.
• However, Ministry of Justice representatives confirmed that the situation remains difficult despite the government's best efforts.

7. Specially Protected Objects

a) Medical Units and Transport

Attacks against healthcare have significantly reduced the system's ability to provide services, in violation of International Humanitarian Law (IHL).²⁰⁴

• Between 23 February and 27 April 2022, 175 attacks were reported, resulting in 52 injuries and 73 fatalities.
• As of 2 June 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) documented 269 verified attacks on health facilities, with at least 76 people killed and 59 injured.²⁰⁶
• In 2022, Ukraine alone has been the scene of two-thirds of all attacks on healthcare facilities worldwide.
• Data from Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) medical evacuations (March 31–June 6, 2022) revealed an outrageous lack of care to distinguish and protect civilians, with over 40% of the 653 evacuated war wounded being elderly and children suffering from blast injuries, traumatic amputations, shrapnel, and gunshot wounds.²⁰⁷

b) Nuclear Power Stations

Concerns about attacks against nuclear plants persist, governed by Article 56 of AP I to the Geneva Conventions.²¹¹

• Russian forces seized control of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) and the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant.²⁰⁸
• A nuclear research facility in Kharkiv was damaged during shelling on 26 March 2022.
• The Zaporizhzhia NPP is still under Russian control. Data transmission to the IAEA was interrupted. Ukraine's government stated that IAEA access would only be possible once control is returned to Ukraine.²⁰⁹
• Missiles flew dangerously close to the Pivdennoukrainska nuclear plant (second-largest in Ukraine) on at least two occasions (16 April and 5 June 2022). On 5 June 2022, a low-flying Russian Kalibr missile passed the plant.²¹³
• Security camera video of the attack on Zaporizhzhia NPP reveals Russian forces repeatedly fired heavy weapons at the plant's massive reactor buildings; Russian fire razed an administrative building, and a shell landed less than 750 meters from the Unit 2 reactor building.²¹⁶

c) Cultural Heritage and Places of Worship

Despite Ukrainian efforts to protect cultural heritage, an extensive list of damaged sites exists.²¹⁷

• As of 22 June 2022, UNESCO confirmed damage to 152 cultural sites since 24 February 2022:²¹⁹
  • 70 religious sites, 12 museums, 30 historic buildings, 18 buildings for cultural activities, 15 monuments, and 7 libraries.
  • 45 sites were damaged in the Donetsk Region, 40 in the Kharkiv Region, and 26 in the Kyiv Region.
• Damaged sites include the Kuindzhi Art Museum in Mariupol, the Babyn Yar Holocaust memorial complex in Kyiv, and the regional State administration building in Kharkiv.²²¹
• On 4 June 2022, a historic wooden church (part of the Sviatohirsk Lavra monastery) was burned down in Svyatohirsk (Donetsk Region), where 300 refugees (including disabled, elderly, and children) were sheltering.²²⁵
• There are reports of an estimated 2,000 art objects being looted, with special squads allegedly tracking down and expropriating antiquities for relocation to Russia.²³¹
• The mission notes that the deliberate targeting of cultural property that has not lost protection violates IHL and constitutes a war crime (ICC Statute, Art. 8(2)(b)(ix)).²²⁷

d) Schools

Civilian facilities essential for children’s wellbeing continue to be damaged or destroyed.

• As of 2 June 2022, at least 1,888 schools have been damaged or destroyed by shelling and bombing.²³³
  • More than half of the damaged schools were in eastern Ukraine.
  • This number is more than double the schools attacked in the same area from 2014 to 2021.
• On 25 February 2022, a nursery school in Okhtyrka (Sumy Oblast), where civilians had sought refuge, was hit by widely prohibited cluster munitions, killing three and injuring one.²³⁴
• Schools are often used as shelters, putting them at risk.
  • On 8 May 2022, a school in Bilohorivka (Luhansk Oblast), used as a shelter, was bombed by Russian forces, with as many as 60 people feared killed.²⁴⁰
  • School 21 in Chernihiv was bombed on April 13, despite having the word "children" sprayed on the windows as a protective measure; at least nine people, including a 13-year-old boy, died.²⁴¹
• In some cases, Russian forces have used schools as military bases, such as in Bucha and a children's summer camp where five bodies were later discovered.²³⁷

8. Use of Weapons

General Use of Indiscriminate Weapons

The mission gathered information on the use of indiscriminate weapons in the country's east, resulting in civilian casualties and damage to civilian objects, including:²⁴⁴

• FAB-250 bombs: These powerful, highly inaccurate, unguided Russian airdropped bombs were commonly used in the Kyiv oblast (Bucha, Hostomel, Borodyanka), destroying at least eight buildings and killing hundreds.²⁴⁵
• Missile Strikes: A Russian missile strike on 23 April 2022 hit two residential buildings, killing eight civilians and injuring 18-20 others, including a three-month-old baby, its mother, and maternal grandmother.²⁴⁶
• Russian troops also used tube and rocket artillery in populated areas of the Sumy region and surrounding towns.

a) Cluster Munitions

There is information on the use of cluster munitions, which are prohibited by the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions due to their indiscriminate effect and long-lasting danger to civilians (though neither Russia nor Ukraine are State parties to this convention). The use of such munitions in populated areas violates IHL prohibitions on weapons that cannot distinguish between civilians and combatants.²⁴⁸

• Widespread Russian Use: Russian forces have used at least six types of cluster munitions in attacks resulting in hundreds of civilian casualties and damage to civilian objects (homes, hospitals, schools).²⁴⁹
• Cluster munitions have hit at least eight of Ukraine's 24 oblasts.
• Incidents include rockets launched into populated areas in Mykolaiv (March 2022), killing and injuring civilians (e.g., nine people lined up at a cash machine).²⁵⁰
• Evidence of cluster munitions was found in the wreckage of cars, streets, and civilian buildings in the Kyiv region (e.g., Bucha and Borodyanka) following Russia's withdrawal.²⁵²
• Tochka missile attack: On 8 April 2022, a Tochka missile struck the Kramatorsk railway station where 4,000 civilians were present, resulting in 60 civilian deaths, including seven children, and 111 injured. Russia denied the attack, claiming the missile is only used by Ukrainian forces, though analysts dispute this.²⁵⁶
• Ukrainian Use: There is evidence that Ukrainian forces used cluster munitions at least once in Husarivka, Kharkiv oblast (6 or 7 March 2022).²⁵⁹
• As of 9 May 2022, 98,864 items of unexploded ordnance, including submunitions and landmines, had been cleared and destroyed by Ukraine's State Emergency Service.²⁶⁰

b) Other Controversial Weapons, in Particular Incendiary Weapons

Incendiary weapons

Incendiary weapons, which generate heat and fire, are limited by the 1983 Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, Protocol III, which prohibits their use against civilians in all circumstances.²⁶²

• The Russian military is accused of using incendiary weapons, including what appear to be incendiaries against the Azovstal plant in Mariupol on 15 May 2022.²⁶³
• Ukrainian officials have repeatedly accused Russian troops of using white phosphorus bombs (incendiary weapons permitted against military targets but prohibited against civilians) in the Lugansk region and at Irpin outside Kyiv.²⁶⁴

Thermobaric weapons

Thermobaric bombs, which ignite oxygen to create a massive pressure wave, are not expressly prohibited by IHL but have a very wide impact area and cause indiscriminate damage.²⁶⁵ Their indiscriminate or intentional use on civilians constitutes a war crime.

• Russia has been accused of using vehicle-borne thermobaric rocket launchers since the invasion, particularly in the battle for the Donbas region.²⁶⁶
• There have also been reports of Ukrainian forces employing thermobaric weapons in the form of shoulder-launched weapon systems.

Antipersonnel mines

The 1997 Convention on the Prohibition of Antipersonnel Mines prohibits their use, production, stockpiling, and transfer. Ukraine is a party, but Russia is not.²⁶⁷

• Russian forces have used at least seven types of antipersonnel mines in at least four regions (Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, and Sumy).
• This includes the newly developed POM-3 "Medallion" mine, equipped with a seismic sensor that detects a person and ejects an explosive charge with a 16-meter radius.²⁶⁸
• The use of these mines, particularly in fields and rural roads, denies access to homes and agricultural lands and will complicate reconstruction efforts for years.²⁷⁰

9. Unlawful Methods of Warfare

Since 1 April 2022, the mission has received no information about the use of unlawful warfare methods in violation of IHL.²⁷¹ Nevertheless, some reports argue that at least amidst the devastation of the siege of Mariupol, one method of Russian warfighting that has become prominent is the deprivation of food, water, and other essentials and that the starvation of civilians was used as a method of warfare, prohibited by article 54 of API and codified as a war crime in article 8(2)(b)(xxv) of the Statute of the ICC. Starvation methods are prohibited because of their multifaceted, destructive, and torturous impacts on individuals and societies, but as those consequences are gradual and often shaped by a combination of conditions and intervening factors, it can be difficult to trace the specific harms associated with starvation in a particular context to specific military operations.²⁷²

10. Naval Warfare

a) Publication of a Contraband List

For a party to lawfully exercise belligerent rights against merchant vessels (M/Vs), it must publish a contraband list concerning goods destined for enemy-controlled territory and capable of being used in armed conflict.²⁷³ Goods with a neutral destination coming from a belligerent port do not constitute contraband.²⁷⁴ The mission did not find any information about the publication of a contraband list by Russia.

b) Destruction of Neutral Ships

The mission gathered information on Russia’s indiscriminate attacks on neutral ships, resulting in vessel destruction and crew injuries. Under IHL, neutral merchant vessels may only be attacked if they constitute military objectives.²⁷⁵

• Stranded Seafarers: Over 1,000 seafarers are stranded in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov on foreign-flagged vessels, with insufficient provisions, surrounded by a Russian blockade and reported sea mines.²⁷⁶
• Vessel Attack: On 4 April 2022, the motor vessel AZBURG (IMO number 9102899) was hit indiscriminately by two missile shells while berthed in the port of Mariupol, resulting in a fire and an injured crew member.²⁷⁷
• Free Floating Mines: Naval mines over which belligerents have lost control pose a serious and immediate threat to the safety and security of crews and vessels in the Black Sea region, including off the coasts of Romania and Turkey.²⁷⁸ The danger of drifting mines violates the obligation to protect merchant shipping from collateral damage.²⁸⁰

c) Measures against Enemy Merchant Vessels

Ukraine's ports are currently closed, preventing merchant ships from entering or leaving due to the risk of mines or attacks. The mission gathered data on Russian attacks on foreign merchant ships but not on Ukrainian merchant ships.

d) Blockade

For naval blockades to be lawful, they must be declared and notified to all powers, specifying the commencement, duration, location, extent, and period for neutral vessels to leave.²⁸² A blockade is prohibited if its sole purpose is starving the civilian population or if the damage to civilians is excessive in relation to the military advantage.²⁸³

• Suspension of Traffic: Russia suspended the movement of commercial vessels in the Sea of Azov on 24 February 2022, which may qualify as a declaration of a blockade.²⁸⁵
• Global Impact: The closure of Ukrainian ports has trapped millions of tons of grain, significantly affecting global food and agricultural supplies and threatening a global hunger crisis.²⁸⁶ The World Food Programme (WFP) called for the immediate opening of Black Sea ports.²⁸⁷
• Legal Ambiguity: The mission found no additional information indicating a formal notification of a blockade that would satisfy the IHL requirements (commencement, location, extent). Coastal authorities and the IMO have not mentioned a Russian naval blockade, focusing instead on mine warnings and advocating for a maritime corridor.
• Enforcement Concerns: Russia allowing some ships to transit from the Azov Sea to the Black Sea suggests it may not be enforcing a blockade impartially, leading to the conclusion that Russia has not established a naval blockade in the Sea of Azov and cannot claim belligerent rights derived from a legally established blockade.
• Pillage of Grain: There are reports of Russian forces stealing tons of grain from Ukraine without compensation. This behavior amounts to pillage, a violation of IHL and a war crime.²⁹⁷

e) Possibility for Neutral Ships and Their Crews to Leave

Approximately 70 vessels from 16 countries, with between 450 and 1,000 seafarers, are stranded in six Ukrainian ports (Kherson, Mykolaiv, Chornomorsk, Ochakiv, Odesa, and Yuzhny/Yuzhne). The humanitarian situation is dire due to low supplies and continued attacks.³⁰⁴

• Humanitarian Corridors: The IMO is calling for a Blue Safe Corridor for the safe evacuation of seafarers and ships. Russia claims to have created two maritime humanitarian corridors, but states that high mine danger (blamed on Ukraine) prevents ships from entering the high seas.³⁰⁷ Ukraine disputes the unilateral corridor and accuses Russia of mine-laying activities.³⁰⁹

C. Conclusions

The second mission concludes, as did the first, that IHL is being ignored or marginalized in the conflict. Evidence was gathered on:

• Indiscriminate bombings of civilian areas and direct targeting of civilians.
• Use of cluster munitions and other wide-area explosive weapons, resulting in unnecessary and disproportionate harm to civilians.³¹¹
• Destruction of civilian facilities (houses, hospitals, schools, etc.).
• Environmental disasters, with a deteriorating sanitary and epidemiological situation, including fears of a cholera outbreak in Mariupol due to contaminated drinking water.³¹³
• The vast numbers of civilian casualties and destruction strongly suggest that the incidental losses are largely disproportionate to any expected military advantage, constituting a violation of the proportionality principle and potentially a war crime.

As of 21 June 2022, over 8 million people have left their homes, with more than 5.2 million seeking refuge in Europe.³¹⁴