Attacks on Ukraine Energy Grid a Crime 10/27 06:28

   

   UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Russia committed war crimes and crimes against 
humanity in Ukraine by intentionally attacking energy infrastructure, leaving 
millions of people without electricity and heat in freezing temperatures, a 
U.N.-backed inquiry reported Monday.

   The inquiry also found evidence that Russia recruited men from 29 countries 
into its armed forces "through deception or coercion" to fight in Ukraine in 
violation of international law. The men, age 18 to 60, "came mostly from 
vulnerable and marginalized communities, with a poor economic background and a 
low education level," it said.

   The independent commission of inquiry was authorized by the Geneva-based 
Human Rights Council to investigate human rights violations shortly after 
Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Its report to the 
U.N. General Assembly's human rights committee on Monday was its first focusing 
on the impact of Russia's wide-ranging attacks on Ukraine's energy 
infrastructure.

   The electricity cuts have left millions of civilians suffering in frigid 
winter darkness, the elderly without elevators to get to shelters during 
missile and drone attacks, and hospital patients without critical devices to 
keep them alive, the report said.

   The commission concluded that the attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure 
constituted war crimes because they were intentionally directed against 
civilian objects, as well as crimes against humanity for "inflicting great 
suffering to civilians," commission chair Erik Mose said at a U.N. news 
conference, speaking by video.

   Mose, a former Norwegian judge, said the intensifying attacks as this winter 
approaches raise serious concerns about the threats posed to civilians.

   The commission said it based its findings on the accounts of 255 Ukrainians 
who endured winter conditions in Kyiv and eight other regions in 2025-26 as 
well as government officials, doctors and civic organizations.

   Mose said the Russians have not responded to requests for comment on any of 
the commission's reports, including this one.

   Russia's U.N. Mission said Monday that Russia does not recognize the mandate 
of the commission and claimed its findings were based on "falsified data."

   Throughout the war, Russia has consistently maintained that its forces are 
only striking military or military-related targets in Ukraine, or targets that 
are used in the interest of the Ukrainian armed forces, despite multiple 
reports and evidence indicating otherwise.

   Russian authorities have been openly and actively recruiting foreigners into 
the army, offering perks such as accelerated Russian citizenship or making 
enlisting in the army mandatory for certain foreigners seeking permanent 
residency in Russia. Official rhetoric usually underscores the voluntary nature 
of such enlistments.

   The report, however, said the men were recruited through deception and 
coercion in coordination with agents operating in other countries who presented 
themselves as legitimate and government-endorsed businesses.

   The agents arranged visas and sometimes traveled with the men, who soon 
after arrival were forced to sign documents in Russian with the Defense 
Ministry that they didn't understand, the commission said.

   "The recruits were shocked to discover that they would be serving for the 
Russian armed forces," it said.

   The commission said it investigated the recruitment of nationals from 48 
countries and found evidence that men from 29 countries were recruited into 
Russia's armed forces as a result of deception or coercion. It named the 29 
countries: Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bolivia, Brazil, Botswana, 
Cameroon, Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Ghana, Honduras, India, 
Jordan, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Peru, Philippines, South Africa, Somalia, Sri 
Lanka, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Yemen and Zimbabwe.