The organization’s report is based on a series of interviews with eye witnesses, victims and local residents of Russia-occupied territories between Feb. 27 and March 14.
A leading human rights group said it had documented “apparent war crimes” by Russian forces against Ukrainian civilians in the occupied areas of the Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Kyiv regions in Ukraine. The report, which was published by Human Rights Watch on Sunday, is based on a series of interviews with eye witnesses, victims and local residents of Russia-occupied territories between Feb.27 and March 14. It documents with chilling detail numerous cases of laws-of-war violations, including repeated rape, two summary killings as well as other incidents of unlawful violence and threats against civilians. “The cases we documented amount to unspeakable, deliberate cruelty and violence against Ukrainian civilians,” said Hugh Williamson, the director of Human Rights Watch’s Europe and Central Asia division. “Rape, murder, and other violent acts against people in the Russian forces’ custody should be investigated as war crimes.
