Russian forces have perpetrated possible war crimes and crimes against humanity since their invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainian forces have also committed potential war crimes.

BACKGROUND:

On 24 February 2022 Russian Armed Forces launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since then, cities and towns across the country have been bombarded with indiscriminate explosive weapons and Russian forces have perpetrated likely war crimes and crimes against humanity, including indiscriminate attacks, systematic use of torture and sexual and gender-based violence. The UN has verified more than 14,655 civilian deaths as of 12 January 2026 while emphasizing that the real toll is likely much higher. According to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU), at least 2,514 people were killed and 12,142 injured in 2025, marking a 31 percent increase compared to 2024. Casualties from the use of short-range drones increased by 120 percent in 2025 compared to the previous year, while long-range weapons accounted for 35 percent of civilian casualties. The conflict has caused a massive humanitarian crisis, displacing at least 10 million people, including more than 6.5 million who have fled to neighboring countries.

The HRMMU has documented the widespread use of heavy artillery and multiple launch rocket systems, unguided missiles, airstrikes and illegal cluster munitions in populated areas. Schools, homes, water and sanitation systems, energy-related infrastructure and civilian shelters have been routinely targeted. The World Health Organization has verified over 2,828 attacks on healthcare since February 2022. The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has verified damage to at least 515 cultural and religious sites. In areas under their control, Russian forces have perpetrated rape and torture, and mass graves and burial sites have been found in areas retaken from them.

Ukrainian and Russian forces have committed abuses against prisoners of war (POWs), including torture and ill-treatment, and have prosecuted accused “collaborators,” according to the HRMMU. The UN has further documented violations committed against POWs by Russian-affiliated mercenary operatives from the now-dissolved Wagner Group, including enforced disappearances, ill-treatment and extrajudicial executions, which may amount to war crimes under international law.

Intense fighting also continues in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, collectively known as Donbas, a region Russia has sought to control despite Ukraine’s refusal. The conflict in Donbas has been ongoing since 2014 after a pro-European change of power in Kyiv prompted the Russian government to militarily support majority-ethnic Russian separatists. An estimated 14,000 people were killed and millions displaced between 2014-2022 and the International Criminal Court (ICC) found evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity. According to international monitors, both sides have continued to commit violations that may amount to war crimes.

The ICC has issued arrest warrants for six Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin and former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine, including forcibly transferring children and attacking civilian areas. The Court also opened a field office in Kyiv to support over 150,000 war crimes cases. Separately, after Ukraine filed a case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) under the Genocide Convention, in March 2022 the Court ordered provisional measures, demanding Russia suspend its military operations. In February 2024 the ICJ ruled that it cannot decide if the invasion violated the Genocide Convention but will examine Russia’s claim that Ukraine committed genocide in Donbas – one of Russia’s justifications for the invasion.

Russia’s aggression in Ukraine has been widely condemned and many states and intergovernmental organizations have responded with targeted sanctions, economic measures and other restrictions. Some states have provided Ukraine’s military with weapons, including banned cluster munitions. The UN General Assembly has passed numerous resolutions that have demanded humanitarian access to civilians, condemned and insisted on the immediate reversal of Russia’s annexation of occupied Ukrainian territory and called for reparations and justice for violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL).

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS:

Since the start of 2026 Russian forces have intensified attacks on Ukrainian civilians and civilian infrastructure, deepening the humanitarian catastrophe amid subzero winter temperatures. On the night of 19 to 20 January, more than 300 Russian drones struck the Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Khmelnytskyi and Odesa regions, killing at least two civilians and injuring dozens. Similar attacks have targeted most regions across Ukraine, including the capital, Kyiv, and Lviv in the west, where a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile known as “Oreshnik” was reportedly used for the second time since 2024. Ports and shipping infrastructure have also come under renewed attacks. On 8 January two foreign-flagged civilian vessels were struck by Russian drones in the Odesa region.

Since late 2025 multiple diplomatic efforts, primarily led by the United States, have aimed to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, including bilateral diplomacy, multilateral summits and trilateral negotiations. However, none of these avenues have produced concrete pathways to ending the conflict. In February peace negotiations increased between the two countries despite continued deadlock over territorial control of Donbas. Russia has demanded full control of the region, including areas still under Ukrainian control, while Ukraine has called for territorial lines to be drawn along the current frontline.

ANALYSIS:

Violations and abuses perpetrated by Russian forces in areas under their control may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, including killing, rape and the systematic use of torture against civilians, as well as grave violations against children, such as killing, maiming, unlawful transfers and deportations.

Civilians in Ukraine are at increased risk as Russian forces target residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure with relentless drone and rocket strikes with wide-area effects. These attacks take on another dimension in the extreme winters temperatures and are evidence of a broader campaign to increase civilian suffering due to damaged power grids, substations and electricity facilities that are essential for civilian survival. The use of the “Oreshnik” missile in Lviv also increases risks due to its speed, undetectability and potential to carry nuclear payloads.

Ukrainian forces have also perpetrated violations and abuses of international law as they continue a counteroffensive to regain territory. Although the conflict is stagnant in Donbas, civilians on either side of the front lines remain at increased risk as Russian and Ukrainian forces continue to use banned cluster munitions.

Parties to the conflict have utilized rhetoric that may amount to incitement to violence, increasing the risk of ethnic-based targeting. Russian officials have also implemented anti-Ukrainian curriculums for children in occupied areas.

Despite sustained external mediation efforts, the vast differences in the preconditions expressed by Ukraine and Russia, including respect for the territorial integrity of Ukraine, highlight the increasingly diminishing prospects for negotiations that could bring a lasting end to the conflict.

RISK ASSESSMENT:

• • • Failure to adequately halt violations of IHL and International Human Rights Law in eastern Ukraine since at least 2014.
    • Russia’s pattern of violence against civilians, their property, livelihoods and cultural symbols and blatant disregard for IHL.
    • Large-scale airstrikes and use of long-range and unguided weapons by Russian forces and counteroffensive by Ukrainian forces.
    • Increasing polarization, marginalization of minority populations, propaganda and inflammatory speech in Russia and Ukraine.
    • Impunity for orchestrators and perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

NECESSARY ACTION:

Parties to the conflict must strictly adhere to IHL and ensure the protection of civilians. All violations must be investigated and perpetrators held accountable. Legal proceedings for those accused of crimes must be transparent, impartial and respect international standards of due process and proportionality.

Amid the protracted crisis, the international community must continue to pressure Russian authorities to halt their aggression in line with the ICJ’s provisional measures, including by closing loopholes in sanctions on dual-use items and third country imports and exports. The international community should maintain its support to Ukraine in upholding its international obligations to protect its populations, including by ensuring the territorial integrity of the country, within the parameters of international law. This includes continuing to support Ukraine through its air defense systems, the main protection Ukrainian forces have against Russia’s daily use of drones and aerial bombardment. The international community should also continue to support those in need of humanitarian assistance.

Peace must be brokered through a process that includes all parties to the conflict and addresses the protection and security concerns of Ukrainian and Russian civilians. Additional protections must be provided to civilians during negotiations, as both sides have increased aerial attacks during these periods.