Over 1,000 cases of war-related sexual violence recorded in Ukraine since Russian invasion

More than 1,000 cases of war-related sexual violence have been recorded since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with nearly 90 percent of perpetrators identified as Russian forces. Victims ranged in age from 4 to 82.

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released a report Saturday describing the findings as "shocking torture, threats and coercion," according to Euronews on Sunday (local time).

The 20-page report covers 1,004 cases of sexual violence linked to the Russia-Ukraine war reported between February 2022 and July this year. It draws on interviews with hundreds of victims as well as court documents.

The majority of victims were men held in detention facilities. Women and children in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine were also found to have suffered serious harm. Russian forces were responsible for 89 percent of the cases, with victims ranging in age from 4 to 82.

One Ukrainian woman in the Zaporizhzhia region was repeatedly raped by a Russian soldier who had promised to treat her captured husband well.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said the number of cases involving Russian forces was "very high" and called on Russia to "take concrete measures to protect civilians and prisoners of war."

Russia formally withdrew from the European Convention on the Prevention of Torture last year. It nonetheless prohibits torture under the UN Convention Against Torture and its own constitution.

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry said the report "demonstrates the scale of the systematic human rights violations perpetrated by Russia."