UN experts: Russia attacks on Ukraine energy are crimes

A UN Human Rights Council panel on Monday accused Russia of committing crimes against humanity by repeatedly targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

The panel said the attacks had increased in “frequency, intensity and geographic range” and that evidence showed Russian actions were carried out as state policy to deprive civilians of electricity and other essential energy-dependent services.

It said millions of people in Ukraine faced long outages of heating, electricity, water and gas last winter and had to live in what the panel called intolerable conditions.

The panel, set up after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, has been investigating possible violations of international law during the war. It has previously accused Moscow of crimes against humanity over drone attacks on civilians and the forced transfer of thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia.

The experts said they also tried to examine Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy infrastructure but were not granted access by Moscow.

The panel also said it found compelling evidence that Russian authorities trafficked people from 29 countries through deception and coercion, then forced them to sign military contracts and sent them to the front. It urged Russia to discharge all trafficked people.