Russian forces have committed 892 documented acts of sexual violence against Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war since the start of the full-scale invasion, including cases involving children, according to a new United Nations report.
The findings, released Friday by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, document allegations including rape, gang rape, genital mutilation, electric shocks and beatings of prisoners’ genitals.
Sixteen children were among the 892 victims identified in the report. The documented cases cover the period from February 24, 2022, shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion, through July 31, 2026.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said he was “deeply alarmed” by the prevalence of the reported abuses and warned that such acts could be continuing amid the ongoing conflict.
“Sexual violence is a grave feature of the full-scale armed attack against Ukraine. It must stop immediately, irrespective of the perpetrators,” Türk said.
Men accounted for 725 of the documented victims, while 151 were women, according to the report. The female victims ranged in age from four to 82.
The report documented 46 cases in which women and girls said they had been raped by Russian military personnel. The victims included a four-year-old girl and an 82-year-old woman. Three women also reported having children born as a result of rape.
The UN mission said sexual violence was also reported extensively among Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians held in Russian custody.
About 75 per cent of former Ukrainian prisoners of war and nearly half of Ukrainian civilians who had been held captive by Russian forces reported being sexually assaulted more than once, according to the findings.
The report said detained civilians were subjected to sexual violence during their internment and interrogations. Ukrainian medical personnel were also among those targeted.
At least 155 men reported being subjected to electric shocks to their genitals using a Soviet-era military field telephone known as a “tapik”. Other documented allegations included sodomy with a police baton, forced penetration with cell-door keys and rape with the handle of a shovel.
The UN described sexual violence against Ukrainian prisoners of war as “frequent and systematic”.
The report also criticised Russia’s response, saying Moscow had failed to take “any discernible steps to prevent, investigate, or prosecute sexual violence committed by its personnel”.
According to the UN findings, 89 per cent of documented cases of sexual violence during the full-scale invasion were attributed to Russian forces and 11 per cent to Ukrainian forces.
Türk called on Russia to take concrete measures to protect civilians and prisoners of war from torture and sexual violence, citing the high number of cases attributed to Russian personnel.