Far from the usual cautious wording of the UN, investigators from the organization accused Moscow on Friday of having committed a “considerable number” of war crimes in four Ukrainian regions in the first weeks following the Russian invasion.
On the other hand, they judged that it was too early to speak of crimes against humanity, contrary to what NGOs and Ukraine claim.
This UN commission of inquiry presented to the Human Rights Council (HRC) the first conclusions of its investigation into human rights violations committed in late February and March by Russian forces in the regions of kyiv, Cherniguiv, Kharkiv and Sumy, located in the north and north-east of Ukraine.
“Based on the evidence collected by the Commission, it has concluded that war crimes have been committed” in these four regions, its president, Erik Mose, told the CDH, listing the Russian bombardments on civilian areas. , numerous executions, torture and ill-treatment as well as sexual violence.
He told the media that the investigations had “shown a considerable number of war crimes” committed by the Russians, while only two cases of mistreatment of Russian soldiers by Ukrainian forces had been found so far during the period concerned.
“There is a considerable difference between war crimes committed on a very large scale on the one hand, and on the other two cases of ill-treatment,” added another investigator, Pablo de Greiff, interviewed by AFP.
The UN raised suspicions of war crimes, but “we are the first UN fact-finding mission to conclude that we have found war crimes” in these four regions, Mose noted.