Human Rights Research League

–

Research. Education. Advocacy. Development. (R.E.A.D.)

Ukraine

 

In the fifth year of its war of aggression against Ukraine, the Russian Federation continues its flagrant violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, as comprehensively documented by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights as well as the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine.

 

Among the many atrocities committed, particularly outrageous is the treatment accorded to Ukrainian servicemen and -women hors de combat, POWs and retained medical personnel, who have been systematically and in a widespread manner subjected to torture, including sexual violence, by the Russian authorities. 

 

Other appallling actions by the Russian Federation concern the expansion of its activities of indoctrinating Ukrainian children in Russian occupied territory and enrolling them in military training for service to the Russian State. Compelling in this fashion allegiance to an Occupying Power is contrary to both IHL and IHRL.

 

The sum of the atrocities committed against, and policies enforced upon Ukrainians by the Russian Federation in its war of aggression against Ukraine have caused tremendous physical and psychological harm to the people of Ukraine. 

 

Human Rights Research League regularly intervenes on these and other issues of concern to Ukraine at the UN Human Rights Council, submits written statements to the UN, organizes side events, seminars and conference, and has supported Ukraine in Rule of Law initiatives and in the form of providing guest lectures on Upholding Human Rights to students at universities in Ukraine during the ongoing war.  

 

 

 

On 2 October 2026, on the occasion of the 63rd Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Human Rights Research League (HRRL) delivered an oral statement during the Interactive Dialogue with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation in Ukraine. Speaking on behalf of HRRL, Viktoriia Tsymbaliuk underlined that behind every statistic about war is a child. Since Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukrainian children have been killed, injured, displaced, separated from their families and deprived of safety. The latest report by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) documented more than a thousand cases of conflict-related sexual violence. Among those attributed to the Russian authorities were girls and boys, the youngest was just four years old.

 

But the consequences of war do not end when violence stops. Our recent survey demonstrated the long-term impact of war on children, including those who had lost parents, children of missing persons, POWs, fallen defenders, as well as children who had experienced deportation, displacement, and occupation.

 

Territorial concessions cannot substitute for human security as no child is safe living under Russian occupation, as it exposes children to coercion, indoctrination, militarization, separation and other grave violations. Therefore, we must stop Russia's aggression, punish those responsible for the war crimes, and return Ukrainian children to Ukraine, as every child returned is a life restored.

 

For further details, please see the video of the Oral Statement on UN Web TV.