03 July 2025
Delivered by: Ilze Brands Kehris, Assistant Secretary-General
Madam Vice- President, Excellencies, distinguished delegates,
Since the Office briefed this Council last March, ceasefire talks have stalled and the fighting has escalated, with a serious increase in civilian casualties.
Along the frontline, Russian armed forces have continued their push to acquire control of further territory. Attacks with short-range drones have killed and injured hundreds of civilians, particularly older people. In April, May, and June, nearly 50 percent more civilians were killed or injured than in the same period in 2024. More than 90 percent of these casualties were in territory controlled by Ukraine.
The trend over the past two years is that civilian deaths and injuries have peaked in the summer months.
In April, the Office documented that some of the missiles that struck cities were equipped with warheads that exploded in the air, scattering fragments across large areas. In some cases, several drones struck the same hospital. In the night of 16 to 17 June alone, an hours-long attack killed more civilians in Kyiv than any other attack in nearly a year. These attacks are instilling terror and anxiety in cities across Ukraine.
We call again on the Russian Federation to cease the use of force against Ukraine immediately, in line with United Nations General Assembly resolutions, the United Nations Charter and other applicable international law, including the binding order on provisional measures of the International Court of Justice.
Madam Vice-President,
There is some positive news.
The ceasefire negotiations have facilitated the return of hundreds of prisoners of war, the bodies of deceased soldiers, and some civilian detainees.
Families who lived in uncertainty and anxiety for many months or even years finally have some answers about the fate of their loved ones. Soldiers have re-united with their families. The exchanges have allowed many to escape torture, ill-treatment, and otherwise inhuman conditions of captivity.
From these last rounds of exchanges, our Office interviewed more than 117 Ukrainian former prisoners of war. They provided detailed, consistent accounts of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, including sexual violence, in Russian captivity, often corroborated by their injuries and the accounts of other former prisoners. These accounts confirm that torture and ill-treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war continue in numerous detention facilities – patterns that we have repeatedly documented and reported.
I reiterate the High Commissioner’s call on the Russian authorities to ensure that prisoners of war are treated in accordance with international humanitarian and human rights law.
The law is equally binding on the Ukrainian authorities. We continue to interview Russian prisoners in Ukrainian captivity. And although the scale is not comparable, we have documented cases where Ukrainian authorities have used torture and ill-treatment in the early stages of captivity in unofficial places of detention. Ukrainian authorities have launched investigations into several of these allegations. Our Office calls on them to ensure that these investigations are carried out in line with international standards.
Madam Vice-President,
In addition to presenting our Office’s periodic report on the human rights situation in Ukraine, I also present the United Nations Secretary-General’s interim report on the occupied territories. Despite repeated requests, the Russian Federation has regrettably not granted our Office access to these territories. We have therefore continued our monitoring based on remote methodology.
The Russian Federation continues to violate its obligations as an occupying power under international humanitarian law – notably by imposing its legal and governance system in the occupied territory, compelling inhabitants to swear allegiance to it, and transferring protected persons within occupied territory and deporting protected people to the Russian Federation.
In the last six months, we have also documented an increase in efforts by the Russian Federation to unlawfully expropriate the private property of people who have been displaced, which is also a violation of international humanitarian law. My Office is concerned that the Russian authorities have set in train processes that will facilitate expropriations on a large scale in Mariupol.
The Russian authorities continue to impose severe restrictions on civic space in the occupied territory, in particular on exercise of freedom of expression.
Legitimate criticism of the occupying authorities, disagreement with policies, or even simple expression of sympathy with victims of the war are often met with administrative court proceedings and fines, and in worst-case scenarios, harsh prison sentences. This is irreconcilable with international human rights law.
Madam Vice-President,
At the last session of the Human Rights Council, the High Commissioner called for an end to attacks on civilians and the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. He called for torture and mistreatment of prisoners of war to end, and for the Russian Federation to respect the human rights of people in areas under its occupation. And he emphasized that peace is more imperative than ever.
Those calls are even more urgent today.
Thank you.