UN recognized Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as war crimes and crimes against humanity
Kyiv • UNN
The UN Commission reported Russia’s war crimes against civilian objects and crimes against humanity. It also addressed human trafficking.
The Russian authorities committed war crimes by deliberately directing attacks against civilian objects, as well as crimes against humanity in the form of other inhumane acts by carrying out attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, and also engaged in human trafficking to recruit foreign nationals into their armed forces for subsequent participation in hostilities in Ukraine, the UN Commission of Inquiry stated. This is stated in a UN statement, reports UNN.
The Russian authorities committed war crimes by deliberately directing attacks against civilian objects, as well as crimes against humanity in the form of other inhumane acts by carrying out continuous attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure
The Commission reportedly "also concluded that the Russian authorities recruited into their armed forces men who had become victims of human trafficking in various countries, in violation of international human rights law".
The Commission investigated the impact of the large-scale attacks by the Russian armed forces on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure on the civilian population, including during the difficult winter period of 2025–2026, as well as the cumulative consequences of these attacks since autumn 2022. Over the years, it notes, systematic waves of attacks, during which hundreds of drones and missiles were used simultaneously, became increasingly frequent and intense and covered an ever-wider area, causing significant damage to Ukraine’s energy sector.
According to the Commission’s assessment, "the Russian commanders who ordered the attacks were aware that the heating facilities they selected as targets in large population centers were vital to the civilian population, especially in winter. The Russian authorities officially stated their intention to continue the attacks and referred to plans to carry them out. The Commission concluded that the Russian authorities committed war crimes by deliberately directing attacks against civilian objects".
"The evidence collected indicates that the attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure were carried out deliberately, in accordance with a state policy aimed at depriving the civilian population of electricity and other essential services dependent on energy supplies and causing them suffering. The Commission concluded that the Russian authorities committed crimes against humanity in the form of other inhumane acts," the statement said.
The Commission relied on testimony from 255 people who endured the winter under the conditions described above in the Dnipropetrovsk, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Poltava, Zaporizhzhia and Zhytomyr regions, as well as on information provided by Ukrainian authorities, doctors and non-governmental organizations.