KILLINGS OF CIVILIANS: SUMMARY EXECUTIONS AND ATTACKS ON INDIVIDUAL CIVILIANS IN UKRAINE
Office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights
KILLINGS OF CIVILIANS: SUMMARY EXECUTIONS AND ATTACKS ON INDIVIDUAL CIVILIANS IN KYIV, CHERNIHIV, AND SUMY REGIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION’S ARMED ATTACK AGAINST UKRAINE
DECEMBER 2022
I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. This report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) addresses killings of civilians, encompassing both summary executions and attacks on individual civilians, committed in parts of Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy regions of Ukraine between 24 February and 6 April 2022, while under military control of the Russian Federation. The report documents certain killings and, in so doing, aims to contribute to victims’ right to truth and accountability, as well as to deter future violations of international human rights, humanitarian and criminal law in the context of the continuing international armed conflict in Ukraine. It also advocates for enhanced efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice and to provide victims with remedy and reparations.1
2. With the start of the armed attack of the Russian Federation on Ukraine on 24 February 2022, Russian troops entered ten regions of Ukraine, including Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy regions to the north and northwest of the capital. In early April, after several weeks of fighting with Ukrainian armed forces, they retreated from those three regions. Soon afterward, the bodies of dead civilians started to be recovered in considerable numbers in various towns and villages of the three regions. A significant number of the bodies bore signs indicating that the victims may have been intentionally killed.
3. As of 31 October 2022, OHCHR - through the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU)2 - had documented summary executions and attacks on individual civilians in 102 villages and towns of the three regions between 24 February and 6 April 2022. The acts in question were committed by Russian armed forces3 in control of these areas and led to the deaths of 441 civilians (341 men, 72 women, 20 boys and 8 girls). One hundred of those killings are analysed in this report and its Annex, as illustrative examples of the suffering borne by civilians in these areas.
4. Information available to OHCHR indicates that the total number of summary executions and lethal attacks directed against individual civilians by Russian armed forces in the three regions during the reporting period is likely considerably higher.4
5. OHCHR found that the killings of civilians were not confined to specific locations, although some areas were more affected than others. For example, the town of
Bucha (Kyiv region), which was under control of Russian troops from 5 to 30 March 2022, suffered from particularly high numbers of killings. By 31 October 2022, OHCHR had documented the killings of 73 civilians (54 men, 16 women, 2 boys, and 1 girl) in Bucha, and was in the process of corroborating an additional 105 alleged killings (85 men, 11 women and 9 adults whose sex is yet unknown).
6. Fifty-seven of the 100 killings presented in the report and its Annex are assessed as summary executions (48 men, 7 women, and 2 boys). Thirty of those took place in places of detention and the other 27 victims were summarily executed on the spot, shortly after coming under the control of the perpetrators. OHCHR found that men and boys were overwhelmingly targeted, comprising 88 per cent of all victims of summary executions. In most cases, Russian soldiers detained civilians on suspicion of participating in hostilities or otherwise contributing to the war effort. The periods of detention prior to the executions varied from a few hours to several weeks. Civilians were detained in houses, basements, garages, industrial or office compounds, or other premises occupied by Russian troops. In most cases, victims of killings in places of detention were found with their hands cuffed or bound by duct-tape, and with injuries suggesting torture or other ill-treatment before being killed. In at least one case, the body of one of the victims showed signs consistent with sexual violence. The circumstances of the summary executions provide strong indications that these killings may amount to the war crime of wilful killing, a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions.
7. In the other 43 killings presented in the report and its Annex (representing 27 men, 13 women, and 3 boys), civilians were killed while moving within or between settlements on foot or by bicycle, car or van. Most victims were targeted while commuting to work, delivering food to others, visiting neighbours or relatives, or while attempting to flee the hostilities. In some cases, soldiers of the Russian armed forces opened fire on civilian households. In all documented cases, OHCHR found that the perpetrators made no apparent attempt to respect the principle of distinction or the obligation to take all feasible precautions to spare civilians.
8. By 31 October 2022, the parties to the conflict had made little progress in holding the direct perpetrators and their commanders to account. While the Government of Ukraine has allocated significant human and technical resources for this purpose, and is benefiting from international expert support, ensuring prompt and thorough investigations remains a challenge given the sheer volume of allegations, the difficulties in apprehending suspects and the practical complexities of investigating serious crimes in theatres of conflict. OHCHR found no indication that the Russian Federation has started or is intending to start investigations and prosecutions of the members of its armed forces or associated personnel alleged to be involved in the killings.
KILLINGS OF CIVILIANS: SUMMARY EXECUTIONS AND ATTACKS ON INDIVIDUAL CIVILIANS IN KYIV, CHERNIHIV, AND SUMY REGIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION’S ARMED ATTACK AGAINST UKRAINE
High Commissioner for Human Rights
KILLINGS OF CIVILIANS: SUMMARY EXECUTIONS AND ATTACKS ON INDIVIDUAL CIVILIANS IN KYIV, CHERNIHIV, AND SUMY REGIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION’S ARMED ATTACK AGAINST UKRAINE
DECEMBER 2022
I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. This report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) addresses killings of civilians, encompassing both summary executions and attacks on individual civilians, committed in parts of Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy regions of Ukraine between 24 February and 6 April 2022, while under military control of the Russian Federation. The report documents certain killings and, in so doing, aims to contribute to victims’ right to truth and accountability, as well as to deter future violations of international human rights, humanitarian and criminal law in the context of the continuing international armed conflict in Ukraine. It also advocates for enhanced efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice and to provide victims with remedy and reparations.1
2. With the start of the armed attack of the Russian Federation on Ukraine on 24 February 2022, Russian troops entered ten regions of Ukraine, including Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy regions to the north and northwest of the capital. In early April, after several weeks of fighting with Ukrainian armed forces, they retreated from those three regions. Soon afterward, the bodies of dead civilians started to be recovered in considerable numbers in various towns and villages of the three regions. A significant number of the bodies bore signs indicating that the victims may have been intentionally killed.
3. As of 31 October 2022, OHCHR - through the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU)2 - had documented summary executions and attacks on individual civilians in 102 villages and towns of the three regions between 24 February and 6 April 2022. The acts in question were committed by Russian armed forces3 in control of these areas and led to the deaths of 441 civilians (341 men, 72 women, 20 boys and 8 girls). One hundred of those killings are analysed in this report and its Annex, as illustrative examples of the suffering borne by civilians in these areas.
4. Information available to OHCHR indicates that the total number of summary executions and lethal attacks directed against individual civilians by Russian armed forces in the three regions during the reporting period is likely considerably higher.4
5. OHCHR found that the killings of civilians were not confined to specific locations, although some areas were more affected than others. For example, the town of
Bucha (Kyiv region), which was under control of Russian troops from 5 to 30 March 2022, suffered from particularly high numbers of killings. By 31 October 2022, OHCHR had documented the killings of 73 civilians (54 men, 16 women, 2 boys, and 1 girl) in Bucha, and was in the process of corroborating an additional 105 alleged killings (85 men, 11 women and 9 adults whose sex is yet unknown).
6. Fifty-seven of the 100 killings presented in the report and its Annex are assessed as summary executions (48 men, 7 women, and 2 boys). Thirty of those took place in places of detention and the other 27 victims were summarily executed on the spot, shortly after coming under the control of the perpetrators. OHCHR found that men and boys were overwhelmingly targeted, comprising 88 per cent of all victims of summary executions. In most cases, Russian soldiers detained civilians on suspicion of participating in hostilities or otherwise contributing to the war effort. The periods of detention prior to the executions varied from a few hours to several weeks. Civilians were detained in houses, basements, garages, industrial or office compounds, or other premises occupied by Russian troops. In most cases, victims of killings in places of detention were found with their hands cuffed or bound by duct-tape, and with injuries suggesting torture or other ill-treatment before being killed. In at least one case, the body of one of the victims showed signs consistent with sexual violence. The circumstances of the summary executions provide strong indications that these killings may amount to the war crime of wilful killing, a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions.
7. In the other 43 killings presented in the report and its Annex (representing 27 men, 13 women, and 3 boys), civilians were killed while moving within or between settlements on foot or by bicycle, car or van. Most victims were targeted while commuting to work, delivering food to others, visiting neighbours or relatives, or while attempting to flee the hostilities. In some cases, soldiers of the Russian armed forces opened fire on civilian households. In all documented cases, OHCHR found that the perpetrators made no apparent attempt to respect the principle of distinction or the obligation to take all feasible precautions to spare civilians.
8. By 31 October 2022, the parties to the conflict had made little progress in holding the direct perpetrators and their commanders to account. While the Government of Ukraine has allocated significant human and technical resources for this purpose, and is benefiting from international expert support, ensuring prompt and thorough investigations remains a challenge given the sheer volume of allegations, the difficulties in apprehending suspects and the practical complexities of investigating serious crimes in theatres of conflict. OHCHR found no indication that the Russian Federation has started or is intending to start investigations and prosecutions of the members of its armed forces or associated personnel alleged to be involved in the killings.
KILLINGS OF CIVILIANS: SUMMARY EXECUTIONS AND ATTACKS ON INDIVIDUAL CIVILIANS IN KYIV, CHERNIHIV, AND SUMY REGIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION’S ARMED ATTACK AGAINST UKRAINE