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Ukraine war crimes: UN inquiry says Russian strikes on power plants targeted civilians

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Investigators appointed by the UN said on Monday, 26 October 2026 that Russian authorities committed Ukraine war crimes and crimes against humanity by attacking civilians and vital energy infrastructure, according to UN News.

Ukraine war crimes: Rescue workers at a building hosting a kindergarten and school in Kharkiv after an air strike (file)
Rescue workers at a building hosting a kindergarten and school in Kharkiv after an air strike (file) Photo: © UNOCHA/Iryna Chernysh via UN News (editorial use with credit).

What the inquiry found on Ukraine war crimes

In its latest report, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine said attacks on power plants have intensified “once again” across the country, where temperatures fell to -21°C last winter. It found that Russian commanders who ordered the attacks knew the heating facilities were “indispensable to the civilian population, particularly during the winter”. The report said Russian authorities had made official statements about further attacks and referred to a plan to carry them out, and concluded that they committed the war crime of intentionally directing attacks against civilian objects. “The scariest thing was to fall asleep and not to wake up,” one 53-year-old man told investigators.

Key Facts

  • Body: UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine
  • Finding: war crimes and crimes against humanity
  • Focus: attacks on energy infrastructure in winter
  • Testimony: 255 people in nine oblasts
  • Trafficking: men from 29 countries recruited

Older people trapped in cold homes

The report highlighted the impact on older people. A 74-year-old woman from Kyiv said: “I lay cold and hungry, without medicine, without anything.” Many seniors cannot use stairs and are afraid of lifts, so they cannot reach shelter during air raid alerts and must stay in unheated homes without electricity or water, the authors said, and the report reiterated the war’s serious harm to older people. For this report the three-member panel, made up of Erik Møse, Pablo de Greiff and Vrinda Grover, relied on accounts from 255 people who lived through the winter in dire conditions in Dnipro, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Poltava, Zaporizhzhia and Zhytomyr oblasts, as well as Ukrainian authorities, doctors and non-governmental groups. It also looked at Ukrainian attacks on energy infrastructure in Russia and occupied areas but could not study their impact in Russia because Russian authorities did not allow access or respond.

Commission of Inquiry on men trafficked from 29 countries

The commission cited “compelling evidence” that Russian authorities recruited men trafficked from 29 countries into the armed forces, in violation of international human rights law. It said the trafficking used “deception and coercion” with agents in different countries, and that the men were made to sign contracts in Russian with the Ministry of Defence soon after arriving. They were sent to the front line and given dangerous tasks; many were killed or went missing, and others surrendered or were captured. The report calls for all trafficked people to be discharged. The commission was set up by the UN Human Rights Council in March 2022; its members are not UN staff and are not paid for the work.

Why It Matters: The findings add to the UN record on attacks that hit civilians, and the trafficking finding matters to families in many countries whose relatives were recruited.

Also on TrendDesh: United Nations Day: UN marks 81 years as Guterres says it is needed more than ever · Sudan drone strikes killed at least 306 people in three weeks, UN rights chief says

Source: UN News, 26 Oct 2026 · OHCHR: Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine

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