Russian authorities committed war crimes by directing attacks against civilian objects, as well as crimes against humanity by carrying out inhumane acts through continuous attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, according to a new report submitted to the United Nations General Assembly on Monday by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine.
According to the Commission's report, Russian authorities have also recruited men trafficked from different countries into the Russian armed forces, in violation of international human rights law.
The Commission of Inquiry is an independent body mandated by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate all alleged violations and abuses of human rights, as well as violations of international humanitarian law and related crimes, in the context of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The Commission has investigated the impact on civilians of large-scale attacks by Russian armed forces on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, particularly during the severe winter of 2025–2026, as well as the cumulative effect of these attacks since autumn 2022.
“The frequency, intensity and geographic range of the attacks have increased over the years. This has caused extensive damage to Ukraine’s energy facilities and has placed a heavy strain on repair capabilities,” said Erik Møse, Chair of the Commission.
“Consequently, as temperatures dipped to minus 21°C during the past winter, millions of civilians faced prolonged outages of electricity, heating, gas, and water. “
Last winter, millions of people in Ukraine experienced had to cope with intolerable living conditions.
“As the cold season approaches, the attacks have intensified once again, raising serious concerns about the threats to civilians’ lives and health,” Møse added.
Prolonged exposure to the cold and deprivation of basic utilities have placed considerable strain on the physical and mental health of civilians, who must constantly devise survival strategies.
Older persons and those with reduced mobility have been severely impacted. Due to the risk of getting trapped in elevators in the event of a sudden power outage, they could not evacuate to a safe place during air raid alerts and were forced to remain in unheated dwellings without electricity or water. This left them without access to life support devices or essential services.
Living conditions were particularly difficult for families with children. The lengthy school closures during acute energy crises disrupted education, and the absence of home heating made children sick, creating additional challenges for families.
According to the investigators’ assessment, Russian commanders who ordered the attacks knew that the heating facilities they targeted in large civilian areas were indispensable to the civilian population, especially during the winter.
Russian authorities have made official declarations concerning further attacks and have referred to a Ministry of Defense plan to carry them out.
“The evidence collected establishes that the waves of attacks by Russian authorities against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure were carried out with intent and pursuant to a state policy to deprive the civilian population of electricity and other essential energy-dependent services and cause great suffering,” Møse said.
“The Commission concludes that this amounts to crimes against humanity of other inhumane acts. “
He added that attacks targeting civilian objects indispensable to the civilian population amount to war crimes.
In preparing the report, the Commission relied on the accounts of 255 individuals who survived the winter under these conditions in the Dnipro, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Poltava, Zaporizhzhia, and Zhytomyr oblasts, as well as on Ukrainian authorities, medical professionals, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
The investigators also examined attacks by Ukrainian armed forces on energy infrastructure in Russia and occupied areas of Ukraine. However, the Commission was unable to investigate the impact of these attacks further because the Russian government did not allow access or respond to requests for information.
Regarding the recruitment of foreign nationals to serve in the Russian Armed Forces, the Commission found compelling evidence that the Russian authorities trafficked people from 29 countries. This human trafficking was carried out through deception and coercion in coordination with agents or agencies operating in different countries or geographic regions.
These agents or agencies approached recruits and presented themselves as legitimate, government-endorsed businesses. They processed visas and travel documents for groups of recruits and, in some cases, traveled with them.
However, soon after arrival, the men were forced to sign contracts with the Russian Ministry of Defense in Russian. The Commission noted a high degree of coordination between the agents operating around the world and the Russian authorities.
“The recruits were handed over to the Russian armed forces and subsequently exploited on the frontline in Ukraine, assigned highly dangerous tasks,” Møse said.
“Many have been killed or have gone missing; others have surrendered or were captured by the Ukrainian armed forces, thereby acquiring the status of prisoners of war.”
He stressed that the disappearance, injury, death, or capture of victims impacts their families psychologically and has a long-lasting emotional toll on them. These families have carried out intense search efforts to find their loved ones.
The Commission reiterated that international law prohibits attacks against civilians and civilian objects, and it called for an end to such attacks. The investigators also called for all trafficked individuals to be released from the Russian Armed Forces.
The report comes as Russia's intensified attacks across Ukraine continue to cause large-scale civilian casualties. Repeated attacks on energy infrastructure threaten to deepen the suffering of civilians, who are already facing devastating consequences. The Russian Armed Forces have resumed large-scale, coordinated attacks on Ukraine's electricity and heating infrastructure.
Since February 24, 2022, the UN has documented the deaths and injuries of over 73,400 Ukrainian civilians. From February 2022 to September 2026, more than 17,600 civilians, including over 850 children, were confirmed killed in Ukraine, and more than 55,800 people were confirmed injured.
Further information
Full text: Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine to the UN General Assembly (A/81/440), released October 26, 2026
https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/coiukraine/a-81-440-auv.pdf