Turning off the heat on a country in the depths of winter is not just a military tactic, according to the United Nations’ independent investigators on Ukraine. In a report published on Monday, the Commission of Inquiry concluded that Russia’s deliberate strikes on Ukrainian power and heating plants are war crimes, and that the suffering they cause rises to crimes against humanity, classed as “other inhumane acts”.
Led by Erik Møse, with Vrinda Grover and Pablo de Greiff alongside him, the panel interviewed 255 people who lived through last winter in nine regions, among them Kharkiv, Kherson, Odesa and Zhytomyr. Temperatures sank as low as minus 21 degrees Celsius while blackouts cut households off from electricity, heating, water and gas. The panel found that Russian commanders understood these facilities were vital to civilians, and that officials had openly announced further strikes in advance.
Older Ukrainians bore a heavy share of the hardship. Many cannot manage stairs and are afraid of lifts, so they stay in freezing flats during air raid alerts. One man of 53 described the fear of falling asleep and never waking up, calling it “like torture”.
The investigators also found “compelling evidence” of a second abuse: men from 29 countries were lured to Russia through deception and pressure, then made to sign Russian-language military contracts they could not read. Many were sent into dangerous front-line roles; some died, some disappeared and others ended up as prisoners of war. The commission wants all of them discharged.
Ukrainian attacks on energy targets inside Russia and in occupied territory were examined too, but Moscow ignored requests for access and information. The Geneva-based Human Rights Council created the commission in March 2022, weeks after the full-scale invasion, and its members now warn that strikes on Ukraine’s grid are intensifying again as another winter approaches.
