UN investigator outlines evidence of Russian war crimes in liberated areas of Ukraine

Amna Nawaz:

Now that the results of the sham referenda held in Russian-controlled parts of Ukraine have been announced, Russia could annex the territory within days. At the same time, Ukraine's military is pushing ahead with a counteroffensive that's already retaken some parts of those regions.

Nick Schifrin looks at what Russian forces left behind and the crimes they committed.

Nick Schifrin:

At their peak, Russian forces captured nearly 20 percent of Ukraine, and, in each village, city and district they occupy, they leave behind a trail of horror

In Bucha and Irpin, suburbs of Kyiv, more than 1,000 bodies buried in mass graves that you see there. In Izyum, outside Kharkiv, investigators have finished Zooming the bodies of more than 400 Ukrainians; 99 percent, according to Ukrainian officials, died from violence. And dozens, if not more, were tortured before they were killed.

For the first time, last week, a group of U.N.-appointed experts presented preliminary evidence of Russian atrocities.

The official in charge of the United Nations Independent Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine is Erik Møse, and he joins me now.

Erik Møse, thank you very much. Welcome to the "NewsHour."

Your commission visited 27 towns and settlements in Ukraine and interviewed more than 150 witnesses and victims. What is the scale of Russian war crimes?

Erik Møse, United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine: Well, so far, we have investigated four areas of Ukraine.

We have seen that there have been conduct of hostilities, where there were explosive weapons use, which caused devastation both for buildings, infrastructure, hospital. And we have also seen violations of personal integrity, large number of executions, torture and ill treatment, sexual and gender-based crime, as well as violence against children.

Nick Schifrin:

You said that there are signs of sexual and gender-based crime on civilians aged 4 to 82 years old. It's hard to believe that.

But have you found that sexual assault, sexual violence is a deliberate act of control employed by the Russians?

Erik Møse:

And we have so far noted that some Russians acted in this way, based on the investigations of our investigators, that there were rapes and even personally being forced to witness rapes who were family members.

Nick Schifrin:

Let's talk about some of the examples of torture in prisons. I have talked to some of these people in Kharkiv.

What conditions were Ukrainian prisoners held inside occupied territory?

Erik Møse:

There were such ill treatment, partly in Ukraine and partly in Russia after having been transferred to Russia.

And, according to our investigations, they were kept for weeks in prisons and beaten. There were mocked execution, forced nudity. There were visible signs of executions when you examine the bodies.

Nick Schifrin:

Ukraine has consistently insisted that the best way to hold Russia accountable is to create a new tribunal to pursue the crime of aggression, specifically to target senior Russian officials.

The prosecutor general, Andriy Kostin, said that to me on this show last week.

Andriy Kostin, Prosecutor General of Ukraine: The crime of aggression is the mother of all of other war crimes. Without crime of aggression committed, there could be no other war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide acts.

Nick Schifrin:

Is the crime of aggression the best way to find justice?

Erik Møse:

This option is one of several possibilities? It is amongst those who are discussing.

But there are quite a few points of accountability that has to be taken into account, both at the national level. You could have ordinary courts or special courts at the national level, or you can have different kinds of international courts, including the one you just mentioned.

Nick Schifrin:

Ukraine's prosecutor general also said they have documented some 30,000 cases of war crimes since the beginning of the war.

Do you have any sense of that — if that number is in the vicinity of the scale of what we're looking at today in Ukraine?

Erik Møse:

It is clear that the number of atrocities, or at least alleged atrocity, is vast in the country.

This illustrates, in a way, the challenges of our mandate. We will have to look into the overall picture of what happened in Ukraine, try to single out the main patterns, and come up with a solid conclusion in our report in March next year. It's a huge task.

Nick Schifrin:

Erik Møse, thank you very much.

Erik Møse:

Thank you.