The United Nations (UN) documented a large number of cases of sexualized violence against Ukrainians by Russian soldiers, reported in the annual report of UN Secretary-General António Guterres to the organization's Security Council on conflict-related violence, which Reuters reviewed.
Guterres wrote that he is «seriously concerned about credible information on violations by Russian armed forces and security forces and associated armed groups», mainly against Ukrainian prisoners of war, in 50 official and 22 unofficial places of detention in Ukraine and Russia. At the same time, the UN Secretary-General stated that Russian authorities did not engage with his special envoy.
«These cases include a significant number of documented instances of violence against sexual organs, including electric shocks, beatings, and burns to the genitals, as well as forced stripping and prolonged nudity used for humiliation and extracting confessions or information», — he said.
As previously reported by Associated Press, of more than 5,000 Ukrainian prisoners of war, at least 206 died in captivity. Another 245 Ukrainian prisoners of war, according to the Ukrainian prosecutor's office, were killed by Russian soldiers on the battlefield after they had already surrendered.