Russian authorities have detained large numbers of civilians in all provinces where they have taken control in Ukraine. Victims included local authorities, civil servants, journalists, and others they perceived as a threat to their military objectives in Ukraine.

Russian authorities often transferred victims to detention facilities in Russian-occupied areas in Ukraine or deported them to the Russian Federation. There, they also subjected them to other grave violations and crimes, including torture and sexual violence. Many people have been missing for months, or years. Some have died. The fate and whereabouts of many remain unknown, leaving their families in agonising uncertainty.

The evidence gathered led the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine to conclude that the enforced disappearances against civilians were perpetrated pursuant to a coordinated state policy and amount to crimes against humanity.

The commission previously concluded that Russian authorities have used torture as crimes against humanity. Its recent investigations also confirmed that when personnel of the Federal Security Service (FSB) were present in detention facilities, they exercised the highest authority. They committed or ordered torture at various stages of detention, and in particular during interrogations, when some of the most brutal treatment was inflicted.

A 56-year-old former detainee recounted that FSB officers ordered electric shocks to be administered to him and said: “Old man, do not think that you will be spared because of your age. Go back to your cell and think carefully about your answers. And if your brain doesn’t work, we will bring your granddaughters here and we will beat the truth out of you in front of them.”

The commission has previously described the systematic use of sexual violence as a form of torture by Russian authorities in detention facilities, mostly against men. It has now documented new cases of rape and sexual violence amounting to torture against detained women.

Authorities subjected female detainees to sexual violence, including rape, and inhuman conditions.

A woman who was the victim of gang rape and other acts of violence said: “It is extremely painful to relive that day over and over, the pain is always there. People say that time heals… it does not. I can’t sleep well; I have severe mental and physical issues. I keep wondering what I could have done differently to avoid all of that.”