An independent international commission to investigate violations in Ukraine has found that Russian authorities have committed a wide range of war crimes in Ukraine, The Guardian reports.
On 16 March, at a press conference in Geneva, the Commission's chairman, Eric Mose, presented a full report on the work of the past year.
Russian war crimes include intentional killings, systematic torture and deportation of children.
Russian troops carried out "indiscriminate and disproportionate" attacks on Ukraine, resorted to torture, killed civilians off the battlefield and took no measures to protect the Ukrainian population.
The commission cited repeated attacks targeting Ukrainian infrastructure that left hundreds of thousands without heat and electricity during the coldest months as potential crimes against humanity.
The report also described the “systematic and widespread” use of torture across multiple regions under Russian occupation, and gave details of torture methods used in Russian detention facilities. Those include subjecting victims to electric shocks with a military phone or hanging from the ceiling in a “parrot position”.
The report is based on more than 500 interviews as well as satellite images and visits to detention sites and graves.
The report’s authors also noted a “small number” of apparent violations by Ukrainian forces. The vast majority of the report focused however on allegations against Russia.
Two more countries joined the coalition to establish a Special Tribunal for the Russian Federation for the crime of aggression against Ukraine. The total number of countries now stands at 32.
Meanwhile, the International Criminal Court is to open two war crimes cases against Russia. These include the abduction of Ukrainian children and the shelling of infrastructure.