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Mistreatment of marauders and pro-Russian supporters
According to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU), there were credible reports of mistreatment of people perceived to support Russian forces in territory controlled by the Ukrainian government. Reports and video footage documented at least 45 cases of abuse and torture by both civilians and members of the territorial defense. The majorities of these cases involved "perpetrators allegedly duct-taped individuals to electricity poles or trees, partially or fully stripped them, beat them, including with sticks and rods, and sprayed them with paint or marked their bodies with the word 'marauder' ... Some of this conduct may also amount to conflict related sexual violence." An eyewitness told France 24 the perpetrators were "all kinds of people: security guards, territorial defence forces, bystanders, concerned citizens." France 24 reported that while such actions "have happened spontaneously, without any official orders from authorities..... some public officials have come out in support of the practice" and that Ukrainian human rights groups had condemned the arrests as a human rights violation.

A pro-Russian politician who had previously served as the mayor of Kreminna, Volodymyr Struk, was kidnapped in March and subsequently murdered by gunmen. Struk's death is suspected to have been a reaction to his support for Russian forces.

Irregular migrants in detention centres
In April a joint investigation between Dutch non-profit Lighthouse Reports, Al Jazeera and Der Spiegel found that dozens of irregular migrants, including Afghani, Pakistani, Indian, Sudanese and Bangladeshi citizens, were detained in the EU-funded Volyn detention centre (also referred to as the Zhuravychi Migrant Accommodation Centre), near the Ukrainian city of Lutsk, close to the combat zone. According to human rights activists, migrants in immigration detention should have been released and allowed to seek refuge and safety like other civilians, as international humanitarian law requires all sides in a conflict to take necessary precautions to shield all civilians under their control from the dangers of the conflict (Additional Protocol 1, Article 58C, of the Geneva Conventions).

Human Rights Watch (HRW) also published their own report on 4 April, which called on authorities to immediately release the Volyn detention centre detainees as "their continued detention at the centre is arbitrary and places them at risk of harm from the hostilities." In mid-April HRW also documented that irregular migrants were being detained close to frontline hostilities in a Temporary holding centre in Mykolaiv Oblast. Interviews with migrants detained in both centres reported that guards had told them they could have left the facilities and would have been awarded Ukrainian citizenship if they had joined the Ukrainian war effort. Videos analysed and verified by Human Rights Watch corroborated the migrants' accounts that the Ukrainian military had been actively using the Zhuravychi centre. On 30 March the Chernihiv detention centre, which had already been evacuated, was hit by drone fired munitions.

Ukrainian prisoners of war
The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine expressed worries about the treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war held by forces of Russia and the Donetsk and Luhansk Republics. On 4 April 2022, Ukrainian Ombudsman for human rights Lyudmyla Denisova said that Ukrainian prisoners of war had launched complaints about their mistreatment by Russian authorities, accusing their captors of inhumane living conditions, asserting that they had been repeatedly intimidated and threatened by their captors. Denisova stated that the prisoners "were periodically taken out one at a time: they [Russian authorities] beat them to make examples of them, fired near their ears and intimidated them."

Humiliation of captured Ukrainian soldiers
Videos showing Ukrainian war prisoners being forced to sing pro-Russian songs or carrying bruises have attracted concerns about their treatment. Dmytro Lubinets, head of the Ukrainian parliament's human rights committee, claimed that Russians forcibly shaved heads of female Ukrainian prisoners.

Captured Ukrainian soldiers with British citizenship were recorded calling for Boris Johnson to arrange for them to be freed in exchange for pro-Kremlin Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuck. The videos were broadcast separately on Rossiya 24 TV channel, causing MP Robert Jenrick to call the videos a "flagrant breach" of the Third Geneva Convention. A Russian spokeswoman claimed that the Ukrainian prisoners of war with British nationality were being treated humanely, referenced a call by Boris Johnson for British prisoners to be shown mercy and said that in turn the UK should "show mercy" to the Ukrainian citizens by stopping military aid to the Ukrainian government.

Another video circulated showing an interview by pro-Kremlin UK journalist Graham Phillips (former reporter of RT and Zvezda) of Ukrainian war prisoner of British nationality Aiden Aslin. Aslin had served in the Ukrainian army for four years and had been captured by the Russian army in Mariupol. In the video he appears in handcuffs with a cut on his forehead, he is repeatedly called a "mercenary" rather than an official combatant, and is told that his crime is punishable by death. The video was aired on Russian television.

Alleged torture and knifing incident
On the 28th of March, a video surfaced, which, shot in the entrance of a public building, has by Russian news outlets been said to depict a trussed and battered Russian soldier being stabbed multiple times in the neck, head and face by a Ukrainian militant, leading to a prolonged death presently followed by the aggressor's enunciation of nationalist slogans. Alexander Bastrykin, head of The Investigative Committee of Russia, stated on the same day, that the matter – characterised as 'the brutal beating and subsequent murder of a Russian prisoner of war' on the committee's website – would be looked into. Russian sources claim that the assailant can, based on the recording, be identified as Ruslan Mironyuk, a denizen of Vinnytsia.

Humiliation of captured Russian soldiers
Since 27 February, the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs has shared on social media photos and videos of killed Russian soldiers, soon followed by dozens of videos of prisoners of war under interrogation, sometimes blindfolded or bound, revealing their names and personal information, and expressing regret over their involvement in the invasion. The videos have raised concerns about potential violations of Article 13 Third Geneva Convention, which states that prisoners of war should be protected "against insults and public curiosity." On 7 March, Amnesty International released a statement saying that "it is essential that all parties to the conflict fully respect the rights of prisoners of war," and saying that filmed prisoners of war and their families could be put at risk of reprisals following repatriation to Russia.

On 16 March, Human Rights Watch described the videos as intentional humiliation and shaming, and urged the Ukrainian authorities to stop posting them on social media and messaging apps. Analogous concerns were expressed by various Western newspapers   A spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Elizabeth Throssell, said that the videos, if genuine, were likely to be incompatible with human dignity and current international humanitarian law. Interviewed by Der Spiegel, international law expert Daniel-Erasmus Khan said that "letting POWs call home is actually a good thing, filming it and putting it online however is not," as it was incompatible with the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war.

Missile attack and shelling in Donetsk
On 14 March a Tochka-U missile attack hit the center of Donetsk, Ukraine, at the time under de facto administration of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR). The Russian Investigative Committee reported that the attack killed 23 civilians, including children, and injured at least 18 people. Ukraine claimed that the rocket had been fired by the Russians, while Russia and the DPR claimed that the attack was carried out by Ukrainian forces. As of 14 March, neither the Russian nor the Ukrainian claims could be independently verified.

On 25 March, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine declared that they were looking into allegations of indiscriminate shelling by the Ukrainian armed forces in Donetsk and in other territory controlled by the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Maisky Market attack
On 13 June 2022, an artillery attack reportedly hit a marketplace in Donetsk, capital of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic.

The attack happened at the Maisky Market in the central part of the city, starting a fire. The pro-Russian Donetsk News Agency claimed the munitions used were "155-mm-calibre NATO-standard artillery munitions." Five civilians were killed, including a child, and at least 22 were left injured.

No quarter
On 2 March, after the shelling of residential areas, Ukraine's Special Operations Forces announced that Russian artillerymen will no longer be taken prisoner, but immediately killed. Following criticism on social media, the command of Ukraine's Special Operations Forces updated the statement as a warning "that it will not spare Russian artillerymen in response to their 'brutal shelling' of civilians and cities." Such a statement could be interpreted as a no quarter order, which is prohibited by customary international law.

On 29 June, the OHCHR documented three incidents where Ukrainian servicemen and one incident where Russian serviceman made public threats of giving no quarter to Russian prisoners of war.

Human shields
Using non-combatants to serve as human shields is prohibited by Humanitarian Law, in particular, Article 51(7) of Protocol I of the Geneva Convention.

Ukrainian forces
Since the beginning of the invasion, Russia has repeatedly accused Ukraine of using human shields.

On 25 February, Putin appealed directly to Ukrainian troops and urged them not to allow "neo-Nazis and Banderites to use your children, your wives and the elderly as a human shield". On 7 March, the Russian permanent representative to the OSCE, Alexander Lukashevich, blamed the Ukrainian government for failing to take "effective steps to evacuate people" and "to bring its influence to bear on the nationalists, who continue to use the population as 'human shields'". On 8 March the Russian Defence Ministry accused the Ukrainian “militants” of holding “more than 4.5 million civilians hostage as a human shield”.

On 23 March, Russia tabled a draft resolution at the UN Security Council demanding from all parties "to refrain from deliberately placing military objects and equipment in the vicinity of such [civilian] objects or in the midst of densely populated areas, as well as not to use civilian objects for military purposes"; the draft was defeated by a vote of 2 in favour (China, Russian Federation) to none against, with 13 abstentions.

Scholars Michael N. Schmitt, Neve Gordon, and Nicola Perugini have rejected these claims as attempts to shift blame for civilian deaths to Ukraine.

While not suggesting that Ukraine is responsible for civilian casualties, human rights activists and international humanitarian law experts told the Washington Post that "Ukraine’s strategy of placing heavy military equipment and other fortifications in civilian zones could weaken Western and Ukrainian efforts to hold Russia legally culpable for possible war crimes".

Ukrainian forces2
Since the beginning of the invasion, Russia has repeatedly accused Ukraine of using human shields, a claim which is regarded by third-party observers as baseless. Scholars Michael N. Schmitt, Neve Gordon, and Nicola Perugini have rejected these claims as attempts to shift blame for civilian deaths to Ukraine.

On 4 August, Amnesty International reported that it had found evidence that Ukrainian forces had put civilians in danger in several separate incidents by establishing bases and firing positions in populated residential areas several kilometres away from the frontlines, including schools and hospitals, when there were potential alternatives nearby. Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Agnès Callamard stated that there was "a pattern of Ukrainian forces putting civilians at risk and violating the laws of war when they operate in populated area." Amnesty further reported that it had failed to find evidence supporting claims of Ukrainian forces putting civilians in danger in a number of other locations, including during the Battle of Kharkiv. Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded to the report by stating that "there cannot be, even hypothetically, any condition under which any Russian attack on Ukraine becomes justified. Aggression against our state is unprovoked, invasive and openly terroristic," further saying that the report represented a "shift responsibility from the aggressor to the victim". Amnesty's local office in Ukraine also disagreed with this report, saying that they had been cut out of the pre-publication process when they complained that the report was based on incomplete evidence compiled by foreign colleagues, and that Amnesty researchers found evidence of Ukrainian violations of international humanitarian law, and not war crimes.

Stara Krasnianka care house attack
On 7 March the Ukrainian armed forces reportedly occupied a care house in the village of Stara Krasnianka, near Kreminna, Luhansk region, and set up a firing position there without first evacuating the residents. On 9 March, the Ukrainian forces based at the care house engaged in a first exchange of fire with Russian affiliated armed groups without casualties among the civilian residents. On 11 March 2022 Russian separatist forces attacked the care house with heavy weapons while 71 patients with disabilities and 15 members of staff were still inside. A fire broke out and approximately fifty people died. A group of residents fled the house and ran into the forest, until they were met five kilometers away by Russian affiliated armed groups, who provided them with assistance.

Ukraine officials accused the Russian forces of deliberately targeting a medical facility and forcefully deporting the survivors. On 29 June, a report of the OHCHR described the incident as "emblematic" of its concern over the potential use of human shields to prevent military operations.

Placement of military objectives near civilian objects
On 28 March human rights activists and international humanitarian law experts told the Washington Post that "Ukraine's strategy of placing heavy military equipment and other fortifications in civilian zones could weaken Western and Ukrainian efforts to hold Russia legally culpable for possible war crimes".

According to Human Rights Watch, both Russian and Ukrainian armies have based their forces in populated areas without first evacuating the residents, thus exposing them to unnecessary risks. On 29 June, also the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concern about Russian armed forces and pro-Russian armed groups as well as Ukrainian forces taking up positions close to civilian objects without taking measures for protecting the civilians. The human rights agency received reports of the use of human shields, which involves the deliberate use of civilians to render certain military objectives immune from attack.

Antecedents
Sexual violence related to the military conflict with Russia and with Russian affiliated armed groups took place in Ukraine also prior to the 2022 invasion. In 2017 the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) published a report on conflict-related sexual violence during the first three years of the Russo-Ukrainian War presenting a sample of 31 emblematic cases. The report documented that the majority of cases happened in the context of deprivation of liberty, often associated with torture and ill-treatment, mainly to punish and humiliate the victims, or extract confessions from them. The report indicated that sexual violence was perpetrated by all parties involved in the conflict, often remained under-reported and rarely was prosecuted and punished; however, media reports of "cases of mass rape" in the conflict area were not confirmed by the report. The report concluded that there were no grounds to believe that sexual violence had been used as a weapon of war by the Ukrainian armed forces or by the Russian and Russian-supported armed forces.

According to the Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict data set, sexual violence by Russian forces has been reported in three of seven years of conflict since 2014 in eastern Ukraine.

In March 2020, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) documented beatings and electric shock in the genital area, rape, threats of rape, forced nudity, and threats of rape against family members, by Russian-led forces as a means of torture and punishment.

Extrajudicial executions of suspected "traitors" of Ukraine
As of 11 July, Ukrainian officials and media reported that at least five Russian collaborators had been shot dead or blown up in their cars and three more wounded. On 30 August, nearly a dozen people had been killed and a number of others have been injured in assassination attempts targeting collaborationist and Russian-appointed officials in the occupied territories. On 8 September, Washington Post reported a wave of assassinations and attempted killings targetting officials and collaborators in Russian occupied territories. Some of the attacks were carried out by Ukrainian partisans who are led and trained by Ukrainian special forces.

On 27 September, the OHCHR documented six killings of alleged civilian collaborators of the Russian forces. The victims were officials of local authorities, policemen and civilians who were believed to have voluntarily cooperated with the enemy. According to OHCHR, these killings may have been committed by government agents or with their acquiescence, and may amount to extrajudicial executions and war crimes.