OHCHR verifies 1,004 cases of sexual violence in Ukraine's war.
At least 1,004 cases of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) were verified in Ukraine from 24 February 2022, when Russia’s attack on Ukraine began, through the end of July 2026. This is what emerges from the report "Sexual Violence in the Context of the Russian Federation Full-Scale Armed Attack against Ukraine" published by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on 18 September.
The report is based on field documentation by the Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. It draws on confidential interviews with victims and survivors of sexual violence committed by both parties, as well as other relevant materials, including court documents, official records and open sources. These findings are not a comprehensive account of sexual violence, which, in Ukraine as in other contexts, remains underreported. However, they once again demonstrate its use as a deliberate method of torture, punishment, coercion, intimidation and humiliation against prisoners of war (POWs) and civilians. Documented violations include rape, gang rape, genital mutilation, forced nudity and threats of rape or castration. Guards and interrogators also applied electric shocks to the genitals and nipples, often with Soviet-era "tapik" field telephones or tasers.
Responsibility is unevenly distributed. Russian Federation authorities account for 892 cases, meaning 89% of those verified. The victims were 725 men, 151 women, 14 girls and two boys, aged between 4 and 82. They included Ukrainian POWs, medical personnel, civilian detainees and residents of occupied areas, and LGBTQI+ individuals were also specifically targeted. The perpetrators included the Russian armed forces, Rosgvardia, the Wagner Group, affiliated armed groups, the Federal Penitentiary Service, the Federal Security Service and the police. The remaining 11 per cent of cases are attributed to Ukrainian authorities, including the armed forces, the Security Service of Ukraine and the National Police. In these cases, too, the victims were predominantly male, mostly Russian or third-country POWs. Fortunately, no children were documented among the victims.
The report identifies three main purposes. Violence was used in interrogations to obtain information or coerce confessions. It was used in detention routines, such as intake and cell searches, to degrade and punish detainees. In occupied residential areas, it served to terrorise populations and enforce control. OHCHR links these practices to a pervasive climate of impunity and a lack of oversight. Under Russian control, violations took place in 83 official facilities and 81 unofficial sites, such as basements, garages and trenches. They affected 10 occupied regions of Ukraine and 20 regions of the Russian Federation. Under Ukrainian control, they occurred mainly during capture and transit, in 10 official and 55 unofficial or transit locations.
The responses of the two parties differ sharply. The Russian Federation has taken no discernible steps to investigate or prosecute sexual violence committed by its personnel. Instead, Federal Laws No. 270-FZ (2023) and No. 64-FZ (2024) exempt servicepersons from criminal liability, and Russia continues to deny OHCHR access to occupied territories and detention sites. Ukraine, by contrast, has granted OHCHR unimpeded and confidential access to official places of internment and detention. It ratified the Rome Statute in August 2024, introduced command responsibility in its Criminal Code and adopted a law on interim reparations for survivors. It opened a criminal investigation in 2024 into abuses against Russian POWs at one facility, but OHCHR is not aware of any case moving beyond the investigative stage.
OHCHR calls on all parties to end sexual violence, investigate every allegation and hold perpetrators accountable. It urges Russia to give OHCHR and other organisations access to detention sites and occupied territory and to repeal the immunity provisions that shield its personnel. Ukraine is asked to protect POWs and detainees and to allocate adequate resources to its reparations law. The international community is called on to press for access and to support survivor networks. Many survivors still face stigma, trauma and fragmented services. Until prevention, accountability and reparation become reality, the 1,004 verified cases will remain only a partial picture.
written by Sara Speranza
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