“You’re loyal to Ukraine – are you Nazi?” Torture and other violations as crimes against humanity by the Russian army in Ukraine
This report addresses torture and other ill-treatment of Ukrainian civilians in the territories of Ukraine occupied by the Russian military in February-March 2022 and liberated later that year. It concludes that these violations were widespread, systematic and may amount to crimes against humanity of persecution against a political group.
This report was prepared by the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the Ukrainian human rights organisations Media Initiative for Human Rights (MIHR) and Human Rights Centre ZMINA (ZMINA) with the aim of providing an overview and legal assessment of patterns of torture and other ill-treatment committed by the armed forces of the Russian Federation against civilians in the territories of Ukraine that fell under their control from February 2022. The report does not include information on the torture of prisoners of war or civilians who directly participated in the hostilities.
The report is based on 63 in-depth interviews with civilians who were direct or indirect victims and/or direct witnesses of torture and other ill-treatment committed by Russian troops. The interviews were conducted by MIHR and ZMINA by telephone and in person during 24 field missions to liberated territories in the regions of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Kharkiv and Kherson between November 2022 and August 2023.
