The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine has documented 1,004 cases of sexual violence between 24 February 2022 and late July 2026. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
The UN stressed that the real number of crimes could be significantly higher. The data was published by DW.
Statement by the head of the mission
Danielle Bell, head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, described the identified cases as only "part of the reality."
How the data was collected
The report was compiled on the basis of confidential interviews with hundreds of victims, court materials and official registries.
According to the UN, 89% of documented cases are linked to actions by the Russian side, including military personnel, employees of correctional institutions and special services. Another 11% of cases were attributed to the Ukrainian side.
Victims
The majority of victims were men held in places of detention. The UN documented rape, genital mutilation, electric shock torture and other degrading acts of a sexual nature.
Women and children also became victims, predominantly in the occupied territories of Ukraine. The youngest victim was a four-year-old girl, the oldest an 82-year-old woman. According to the report, both crimes were committed by representatives of the Russian side.
International reaction
"I am deeply alarmed by the frequency of these abhorrent acts," said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.
He expressed concern that such crimes would continue amid the ongoing violence in Ukraine.
Verification limits
Representatives of the monitoring mission were able to interview only about 10% of people released by both sides of the conflict. UN staff had no access to the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine.