UN documents 1,004 sexual violence cases in Ukraine war, victims between ages 4 to 82

The United Nations has documented 1,004 cases of conflict-related sexual violence in Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, with 89 per cent of the verified cases attributed to Russian authorities, according to a new UN Human Rights Office report.

The 20-page report, covering the period from February 24, 2022 to July 31, 2026, describes a pattern in which sexual violence was used against civilians and prisoners of war as a method of torture, intimidation and coercion.

The remaining 11 per cent of the documented cases were attributed to Ukrainian authorities, including members of the Ukrainian armed forces, the State Penitentiary Service and the Security Service of Ukraine.

Men majority of victims

Most victims documented by the UN were men, particularly prisoners of war and civilians held in detention. Women and children were also subjected to sexual violence, predominantly in Ukrainian territory occupied by Russia.

The violations documented by investigators included rape, gang rape, genital mutilation, electric shocks and beatings to the genitals, forced nudity and other sexually degrading treatment.

The youngest documented rape survivor was a four-year-old girl and the oldest an 82-year-old woman. The UN said Russian authorities were responsible for both cases.

The report was prepared using confidential interviews with hundreds of victims and survivors, alongside court documents, official records and other material gathered by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine.

The UN cautioned that the 1,004 verified cases represented only a fraction of the actual number because conflict-related sexual violence is substantially underreported and investigators have faced access constraints.

Violence during detention

The UN found that sexual violence against Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilian detainees was widespread in Russian-controlled detention settings.

According to Danielle Bell, head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, almost three-quarters of the Ukrainian prisoners of war interviewed by the mission and about half of interviewed civilian detainees had experienced sexual violence at least once.

Investigators found that abuse could occur throughout captivity — during capture or arrest, transfers, admission to detention facilities, interrogations, cell searches and showers, and immediately before release or prisoner exchanges.

Among the methods documented was the application of electric shocks to prisoners’ genitals. The report said 155 Ukrainian prisoners of war and retained medical personnel interviewed by investigators had experienced this form of sexual violence at least once.

The UN also documented sexual violence against civilians outside detention, particularly women and girls in Russian-occupied areas.

Ukrainian violations recorded

The report separately documented violations attributed to Ukrainian authorities against Russian and third-country prisoners of war.

Nearly half of the documented violations attributed to the Ukrainian side involved threats of sexual violence. Investigators also recorded forced nudity, electric shocks, beatings to the genitals and other degrading treatment.

The UN documented two sexual assaults and two attempted rapes attributed to Ukrainian troops.

Ukraine has provided UN monitors access to detention facilities under its control, while the report said access to Russian-controlled detention sites and occupied Ukrainian territories remained restricted. Russia’s permanent diplomatic mission in Geneva declined to comment when asked about the findings.

UN seeks accountability

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk expressed alarm over the prevalence of the violations and warned that such abuses were likely continuing as the war entered its fifth year.

Türk called for sexual violence to end irrespective of who committed it and urged prompt and impartial investigations into credible allegations, with perpetrators held accountable.

The UN report particularly called on Russia to take concrete measures to protect civilians and prisoners of war from torture and sexual violence because of the substantially higher proportion of verified cases attributed to Russian authorities.

The findings, released on September 18, add to the UN’s documentation of human rights violations during a conflict that continues to inflict heavy costs on civilians more than four years after Russia’s full-scale invasion.