UN accuses Russia of systematic torture

In a fresh report, the UN rights office concluded that Russia since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 "has subjected Ukrainian civilian detainees to consistent patterns of serious violations" of international law.

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The report said UN investigators had interviewed 216 civilians released from detention in the occupied territories since June 2023.

A full 92 percent of them "gave consistent and detailed accounts of having been subjected to torture or ill-treatment during their captivity", it said.

"Severe beatings with a variety of instruments, such as batons and sticks, electric shocks to various body parts (and) mock executions," were among the methods described.