The international human rights organization Amnesty International published its 2024 report on Tuesday, listing, among other things, the war crimes that Russia continues to commit against Ukraine.
This was reported on the organization's website.
"The number of casualties among the civilian population, including children and the elderly, has increased as Russian troops used prohibited weapons, disabled critical civilian infrastructure, and, according to available data, deliberately targeted civilians," the experts noted in the annual report.
The report states that in the territories occupied by Russia, repression against non-Russian identity continued, including executions, torture, and other cruel treatment of civilian detainees and prisoners of war.
Amnesty International concluded that the losses among the civilian population were higher than in 2023, and often occurred far from active combat zones, as Russia continued to shell populated areas with missiles and drones. The report mentions the attack on the National Children's Specialized Hospital "Okhmatdyt" in Kyiv on July 8 last year.
"As with other numerous attacks in 2024, the strike on 'Okhmatdyt' was part of a larger coordinated Russian assault; on the same day, at least 43 civilians were killed in Kyiv, Dnipro, and Kryvyi Rih," the human rights defenders stated.
They also highlighted that Russia continued systematic attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure. By May of the previous year, 70% of Ukraine’s thermal power plants had been either destroyed or were under occupation, according to data from the International Energy Association.
Additionally, experts reported that there was an increasing amount of evidence about extrajudicial executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war by Russian forces. They noted that, despite Russia generally ignoring or dismissing reports of the execution of Ukrainian prisoners, two political figures in Russia—Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev and Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov—called for the execution of prisoners of war.
"Hundreds of Ukrainian prisoners of war were sentenced in Russia and on the territories it occupies in Ukraine, often simply for participating in combat actions. The lack of due legal procedure in such trials also constitutes a war crime," emphasized Amnesty International.
The report also notes continued reliable reports of torture and other cruel treatment, as well as the enforced disappearances of Ukrainian civilians and military personnel in Russian-occupied territories. According to data from the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission, about 97% of former Ukrainian prisoners of war reported torture, cruel beatings, the use of electric shocks, sexual violence, sleep deprivation, and mock executions during their captivity in Russian hands.
Furthermore, Russia did not grant UN observers access to places of detention where Ukrainian civilians and military prisoners were held, while other international organizations had limited or no access to detention sites under Russian control or in occupied territories, according to the report.
Amnesty International also added that on the occupied territories, the right to education continued to be violated: children were subjected to indoctrination, and teachers were coerced, sometimes into forced labor. The report further notes that Russia continued its policy of "Russification" in the occupied territories, including Crimea. The Russian administration violated numerous human rights by imposing Russian citizenship on Crimeans, transferring prisoners to Russia, committing enforced disappearances of residents, and suppressing religious freedoms and the media.
