DISINFO: UN report on Russian atrocities in Ukraine not supported by evidence
SUMMARY
Accusations against Russia presented in the report of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine are groundless and do not stand up to any criticism. The speculative conclusions of the commission are based on the unsubstantiated stories of arbitrarily selected individuals positioning themselves as victims and eyewitnesses of alleged crimes of the Russian armed forces.
RESPONSE
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This is a recurring disinformation narrative from pro-Kremlin outlets denying war crimes and atrocities committed by the Russian armed forces in Ukraine. This claim was made in the context of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine has provided ample evidence of Russian war crimes in Ukraine. The commission said in a report, issued on 25 September 2023, that “it had documented explosive weapons attacks on residential buildings, a functional medical facility, a railway station, a restaurant, shops and commercial warehouses”. Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine include “unlawful attacks with explosive weapons, attacks harming civilians, torture, sexual and gender-based violence, and attacks on energy infrastructure.” The report also said that the commission ”is investigating the cause of the breach of the Nova Kakhovka dam and its impact on the civilian population”.
There is plenty of other convincing evidence of Russian troops’ involvement in mass killings, summary extrajudicial executions, torture, rape and other war crimes in Bucha and other small towns around Kyiv. Similar crimes have been registered in Mariupol, Kharkiv Region and other Ukrainian territories. According to Ukrainian prosecutors, Russia has committed at least 80 thousand war crimes in Ukraine. Russian troops heavily shell and bomb residential areas, schools, kindergartens, hospitals, orphanages, churches and other civilian objects.
The mass deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia under the guise of evacuation is another war crime committed by Russia. Moscow itself acknowledged that over 700 thousand Ukrainian children had been deported. On 17 March 2023, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Putin and the Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Office of the Russian President, Maria Lvova-Belova. The court alleges that they are responsible for war crimes including the unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia.
Read similar disinformation cases claiming that The West fights Russia through psy-ops like Bucha and the Mariupol maternity hospital, that Bucha massacre was orchestrated by Ukrainian forces, and that ‘Izyum atrocities’ staged by Ukraine through controlled media.