A UN investigation has found that Russia is guilty of committing crimes against humanity in the occupied territories of Ukraine. The investigation focused on the Kremlin’s sweeping detention and deportation program targeting Ukrainian civilians living under Russian occupation, and confirms earlier reports of terror tactics used by Putin’s invading forces.
The March 19 report of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine found that “enforced disappearances of civilians were committed as part of a coordinated state policy and constitute crimes against humanity.” The report detailed a lawless environment throughout Russian-occupied Ukraine, where anyone deemed a potential threat to the occupation authorities is detained and then disappeared into the network of detention facilities in the occupied territories or deported to the Russian Federation.
Similar evidence of mass detentions was found throughout the regions of Ukraine currently under Kremlin control, indicating what U.N. officials called a “systematic targeting of civilians.” The victims included local officials, journalists, civil society activists, war veterans, and religious leaders. While exact numbers are unknown, the U.N. report said large numbers of Ukrainian civilians were targeted in a “widespread and systematic manner.”
The war crimes allegations leveled against Russian authorities in occupied Ukraine go far beyond the detentions noted by UN investigators. The most widely publicized allegations relate to the mass abductions and indoctrination of vulnerable Ukrainian children. Russia is believed to have kidnapped tens of thousands of young Ukrainians and placed them in camps or foster homes, where they are often subjected to brainwashing programs designed to strip them of their Ukrainian identity and turn them into Russians. In March 2023, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for his role in these mass abductions.
Throughout Russian-occupied Ukraine, authorities are working methodically to remove all symbols of Ukrainian statehood and erase any trace of Ukrainian national identity. The Ukrainian language is being suppressed, along with Ukrainian literature, history, and cultural heritage. Schools now teach a Kremlin-approved curriculum that glorifies Russian imperialism and demonizes Ukraine. Any parents who try to resist the indoctrination of their children risk losing custody.
Ukrainians living under Russian occupation are being forced to accept Russian citizenship. Those who refuse to take Russian passports are denied access to basic services such as health care and pensions, and are unable to register their property with the occupation authorities. This so-called passportization campaign has recently entered a new phase, with the Kremlin announcing that anyone who does not obtain Russian citizenship within the next six months will face potential deportation from their own homes.
Concerns about the future of Ukrainians in the country’s occupied regions have recently been heightened by US Special Representative Steve Witkoff’s apparent support for sham referendums orchestrated by the Kremlin in 2022 to justify its land grabs. “There have been referendums where the vast majority of people have indicated that they want to be under Russian rule,” he told Tucker Carlson in an interview that has caused alarm across Europe.
The furor over Witkoff’s comments was hardly unexpected. Russia’s fig-leaf referendums in occupied Ukraine were at the time soundly rejected by the vast majority of the international community, including many of Russia’s traditional supporters. “The United States will never recognize these illegal attempts to seize territory that does not belong to Russia,” the State Department said.
The September 2022 ballot lacked even the most basic semblance of legitimacy, as voting took place at gunpoint. Indeed, in many cases, captive populations were visited in their homes by election officials, accompanied by armed soldiers. Such Kafkaesque scenes are nothing new for the Kremlin, which has been staging such farcical “referendums” to justify acts of international aggression since Stalin. But until Vitkov, no senior Western official had attempted to offer his seal of approval.
A new UN report detailing Russia’s crimes against humanity in occupied Ukraine is particularly timely. The peace talks initiated by US President Donald Trump in recent weeks have largely focused on the possible division of Ukraine, with negotiating teams working to define potential borders. But while Trump talks of “dividing up land,” millions of lives are at stake. It is therefore vital to highlight the horrors taking place in Russian-occupied Ukraine and the crimes committed by the Kremlin. While liberating these regions may not be militarily viable at this time, protecting the basic human rights of Ukrainians living under Russian occupation must be an important aspect of any negotiated settlement.
Peter Dickinson is editor of the Atlantic Council's UkraineAlert service.
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