A devastating new United Nations report has documented systematic torture and abuse of Ukrainian civilians by Russian authorities in occupied territories, with 92% of interviewed former detainees reporting they were tortured during detention.
The UN Human Rights Office documented 508 cases of civilian detention, conducting 216 interviews with released detainees between June 2023 and September 2025. The findings reveal a pattern of severe beatings, sexual violence, and psychological torture, including mock executions.
“One detainee described to us being beaten so severely with a baseball bat that he begged to be shot. His captor instead laughed and beat his teeth with a baseball bat, knocking out his teeth,” said Danielle Bell, UN Human Rights Ukraine Representative, speaking from Kyiv.
Staggering Numbers Still in Detention
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General reports that Russian authorities have detained 15,250 Ukrainian civilians since the February 2022 invasion began. As of May 2025, approximately 1,800 Ukrainian civilians remain in Russian detention, though UN officials believe the actual number is significantly higher.
“The Russian Federation has frequently disregarded legal and procedural safeguards in occupied territory, resulting in high numbers of arbitrary detentions, and raising significant concerns about enforced disappearances,” said UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence.
Systematic Targeting and Abuse
The report documents how Russian authorities have systematically targeted Ukrainian civilians for their perceived ties to Ukraine’s armed forces. Detainees face prosecution for alleged crimes, including treason, “discrediting the Russian armed forces,” or criticising the invasion.
Under international law, occupying powers can only detain civilians under strict legal conditions with proper safeguards and review. The UN found Russia has systematically ignored these requirements, leaving civilians vulnerable to arbitrary prosecution and abuse.
Families Left in Dark About Missing Relatives
The human cost extends beyond those detained. Anna, whose father, Roman, worked at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant before being detained in January 2023, described a Kafkaesque nightmare of conflicting responses from Russian authorities.
“I submitted many requests to the Russian Ministry of Defence, and they told me that he was not listed, was not in jail, and was not in custody,” Anna told UN investigators. Later, she received a letter confirming his detention, only to be told in a subsequent response that it was “a mistake” and her father wasn’t detained.
“To this day, I don’t know where my dad is,” she said.
Ukraine Also Under Scrutiny
The report also examined Ukraine’s treatment of conflict-related detainees, finding the country holds 2,258 people in pre-trial and penal facilities as of July 2025, with 20,000 open cases straining the justice system.
While Ukraine has largely maintained procedural safeguards like lawyer access and complaint mechanisms, the UN documented ongoing concerns. Some 117 detainees reported torture or ill-treatment when first detained in 2022, and investigations into abuse have seen limited progress.
Urgent Call for Action
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk called for civilian detainees’ rights to be prioritised in any peace negotiations. The report provides several practical recommendations for ending the systematic abuse.
“In any negotiation, the release of civilian detainees held by the Russian Federation must be a priority,” Bell emphasised. “Those detained, and their family members, deserve for the truth to be known and their suffering to be acknowledged.”
The findings add to mounting evidence of systematic human rights violations in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories, creating what UN officials describe as “an oppressive environment and climate of fear” that places Ukrainian civilians “outside the effective protection of the law.”
