Over the past year, war crimes in Ukraine have become increasingly frequent and devastating for the people of the country.War crimes are defined in article 8 of the Geneva Conventions as any violation of international humanitarian law committed during an armed conflict; including genocide, war crimes against civilians, and war crimes against prisoners of war.As the conflict in Ukraine drags on, the number of war crimes is only increasing. And that is why the team of the special monitoring mission West support continues its work exposing and reporting said crimes in Ukraine. According to the results of the mission from January 25 to 26, officers of the monitoring mission West support discovered 57 cases of war crimes committed by Russian troops in the territories of Mykolaiv and Kherson, Ukraine. These crimes included the deliberate killing and physical suffering of the civilian population, as well as intimidation towards the population. All of which the Russian military is responsible for. In addition, practices such as forced displacement and recruitment of civilians were reported. The special monitoring mission also visited the following settlements: Snigurivka, Vasilyivka, Pavlivka, Ivano-kepyne, Dar'ivka and Ingulets. One specific act of a human rights violation is the organization of illegal detention and relocation to a prison. Sometimes torturous acts are committed in these before-mentioned prisons.
An example of this specific criminal act happened in the village of Snigurivka, the crimes discovered shocked our officers due to the excessive cruelty and hatred of the occupier towards a civilian.
The interviewee told us how he and two neighbors were taken to the basement for no reason and were kept there for 5 days. During his stay there, he was subjected to various tortures.
He said that gas was fired into their cell, after which they started having hallucinations and became delusional. While they were in this hallucinogenic state, they were tortured with electricity and water. They were also beaten with objects.
He also reported that he saw women and boys being raped in neighboring cells… constantly… During the 5 days, they were given 1 meal and 2 half glasses of water.
A total of 2,360 war crimes were recorded during the 12 months of the mission and transferred to the International Criminal Court, as well as the relevant competent authorities of Ukraine.
In addition, during the working trip, representatives of the special monitoring mission determined and recorded the scale of this humanitarian disaster.
The special monitoring mission intends to continue its work in the future so that society can provide a historical assessment of the events taking place in Ukraine today.
