Key facts
- A UN report documented 1,004 verified cases of conflict-related sexual violence in Ukraine between February 2022 and July 2026.
- Eighty-nine percent of the cases were attributed to Russian forces, including armed forces, prison service, and security agencies.
- Eleven percent of the cases were linked to Ukrainian forces.
- Violations included rape, gang rape, genital mutilation, and electric shocks to the genitals.
- Most victims in detention were men, particularly prisoners of war and detainees.
- Russia has failed to take steps to prevent, investigate, or prosecute sexual violence by its personnel.
Russian forces are responsible for the vast majority of sexual violence in Ukraine since the start of the full-scale war, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights announced in a report on Sept. 18.
According to the report, out of 1,004 verified cases of conflict-related sexual violence against civilians and prisoners of war between February 2022 and July 2026, 89% were attributed to Russian forces. Eleven percent of total verified cases were attributed to Ukrainian forces, with threats of sexual violence comprising almost half of these violations.
"Sexual violence is a grave feature of the full-scale armed attack against Ukraine. It must stop immediately, irrespective of the perpetrators," said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk. "Given the high prevalence of cases attributed to its forces, however, the Russian Federation in particular must take concrete and discernible steps to protect civilians and prisoners of war from all forms of torture, including sexual violence.”
The 20-page report is based on interviews with hundreds of survivors, court documents, official records, and findings of the OHCHR’s Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. The report acknowledges that the findings are not comprehensive, given that sexual violence may be underreported and because Russia has not granted OHCHR access to Ukrainian territory it currently occupies.
Russian forces subjected Ukrainian POWs and civilians in captivity to sexual violence as a pattern of torture, intimidation, and coercion, the report says. The majority of victims were men. Women and children, primarily in Ukrainian territory occupied by Russian forces, also fell victim to rapes and sexual assault. The youngest documented rape survivor was a four-year-old girl, and the oldest was an 82-year-old woman, with both cases perpetrated by Russian forces.