Echoes of Tragedy: Recalling War Crimes in Ukraine

February 22, 2024
Two years of Russia’s full-scale aggression in Ukraine have left a trail of destruction and despair, with war crimes and atrocities still haunting the Ukrainian people.
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Photo credit: Sergiy Chuzavkov

Complete ruins have replaced once vibrant quarters, and the anguished cries of those attempting to flee linger in the air. People who have suffered physical and emotional scars as a result of witnessing humanity's darkest moments. Haunting memories of those who perished in their beds at dawn, while socialising in a cafe, or suffocating in a basement. All of this serves as a stark reminder of the true face of what is unequivocally labelled as war crimes under international law.

As of February 2024, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office had recorded 125,576 war crimes and crimes of aggression committed by Russia in Ukraine. This figure rises every day, underscoring the ongoing nature of these atrocities.

The ongoing efforts of various entities to gather evidence and document these crimes are revealing a pattern of systemic and state-sanctioned war crimes orchestrated by top Russian officials.

The latest report from the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine reaffirmed Russia's systematic violations of international law, such as deliberate killings, torture, sexual violence, and the forced deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.

We selected the most notorious examples of Russian war crimes since the start of the full-scale invasion. While not exhaustive, these examples represent the grim reality of the atrocities suffered by Ukrainians, shedding light on Russia's criminal actions.

Massacres and torture

In the occupied territories, the Russians unleash a reign of terror through mass murders and tortures. After Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, and a part of Kherson Oblasts were liberated, the world bore witness to it.

Yablunska Street in Bucha has become the symbol of a massacre in the Kyiv region. Covered in the bodies of killed Ukrainian civilians, it gave Ukrainian forces entering the liberated town a glimpse into the horrors that the Russians subjected Ukrainians to.

Conversations with survivors, the discovery of mass graves, and the examination of bodies all lay bare the deliberate and systematic nature of Russian atrocities. People were just shot down for fun when they left their homes.

Russian soldiers broke into people's homes and executed those who seemed suspicious to them, or even tortured them to death.

The Russians employed similarly brutal tactics across all occupied territories. In Kyiv Oblast alone, 717 out of 1374 individuals were killed by gunfire, with 191 deaths still undetermined.

In liberated areas of Kharkiv, Kherson, and Donetsk Oblasts, the bodies of 1077 slain Ukrainians were discovered, many showing signs of violent deaths and brutal torture.

Another heinous act committed by the Russians was the targeted shooting of evacuating Ukrainians, turning routes like the Zhytomyr highway in Kyiv Oblast into “roads of death”.

The Russians took the lives of 26 people seeking safety, repeating this crime in other regions, such as near Kupyansk in Kharkiv Oblast, where 26 evacuees were killed.

The systematic torture of civilians represents yet another facet of Russian war crimes.

After the liberation, 11 torture chambers were discovered in Kherson Oblast, 25 - in Kharkiv Oblast, 18 - in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, ten - in Donetsk Oblast, and three - in Kyiv Oblast. The official numbers in temporarily occupied territories are incredibly difficult to identify.

They operate uniformly throughout occupied territories. People are taken from the streets or their homes and detained. The detention conditions violate all norms. People lack adequate space, food, access to medical care, and proper sanitary conditions. Witnesses who survived reported that the Ukrainians were subjected to systematic psychological and physical torture. Convoluted methods are employed, including electrical torture.

The case of Yahidne village in Chernihiv Oblast is equal to torture. For 28 days, 299 adults and 67 children were forcefully kept in the school basement, which measures 198 square metres.

The villagers were used as human shields because the Russians used the school building as their headquarters. People lacked food, hygiene, and even space to lie down. For ten prisoners, this “basement torture” was the last experience of their lives.

Wiping out Ukrainian cities and their residents

Russia's aggression in Ukraine has resulted in the destruction or damage of almost 250,000 housing stock objects as of January 2024, with Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Kherson Oblasts being the hardest hit. Civilian and critical infrastructure objects are targets of Russian attacks to no lesser extent.

A bleeding wound on Ukraine’s body - Mariupol. The city has become the epitomisation of Russian war crimes, with half of its residential buildings and 90% of its infrastructure destroyed and the deaths of at least 25,000 people (according to the Ukrainian authorities), though the actual toll may be higher.

Survivors in blockaded Mariupol have endured immense suffering, with limited access to basic necessities, witnessing the destruction of their homes and the loss of loved ones in front of their eyes.

The ruthless airstrike on the Drama Theatre, which served as a shelter for over a thousand civilians, resulted in the deaths of at least 300 people, while the AP cites 600 killed.

Indiscriminate shelling and attacks on civilian areas by the Russians, causing heavy damage and casualties, are deliberate tactics the Russians use either to capture an area or to take revenge for the Ukrainians’ resilience.

Towns such as Izyum in Kharkiv Oblast have been heavily damaged, with significant loss of life. In Kyiv Oblast, towns like Bucha, Hostomel, Borodyanka, and Irpin have witnessed destruction and loss of life, with 4,500 buildings ruined and 1,374 civilians killed during the fighting and occupation.

Ukrainians continue to face daily drone and missile attacks, further adding to the devastation and suffering. Almost every attack results in casualties and yet more destruction.

The strikes on residential buildings in Dnipro (January 14, 2023, 46 people killed) or Chasiv Yar (July 9, 2022, 48 people killed) remind us of the human cost of senseless brutality.

Attacks on public places, gatherings of people

Attacks on crowded public places represent another form of Russian terror inflicted upon Ukrainians. We would like to highlight a few notable examples among the numerous crimes of this nature that continue to be perpetrated by Russian forces.

The town of Kramatorsk serves as an important eastward evacuation point. For those who make it there, it is the final stop before they can rest after fleeing a combat zone.

On April 8, 2022, not everyone had this opportunity. While people were waiting for the evacuation train, a Russian missile killed 61 and wounded 121.

On a summer's day of June 27, 2023, in the same town, people gathered in the city centre. Some were peacefully enjoying coffee in a cafe when another Russian missile attack claimed the lives of 13 Ukrainians and left 59 others injured.

Malls have also become targets of Russian aggression. A particularly devastating attack occurred in Kremenchuk on June 27, 2022, when a missile struck the Amstor shopping centre in Kremenchuk, killing 22 people and injuring over 100 others.

The village of Hroza. On October 5, 2023, the villagers gathered in a cafe to honour a fallen soldier from their community. A Russian missile struck the area, killing 59 of the approximately 300 people who lived there. There was no family whose relatives were not harmed in this attack.

The physical and emotional toll of these war crimes is palpable, with stories of suffering, loss, and resilience painting a vivid picture of the human cost of Russian aggression.

The documentation of these war crimes serves as a testament to the resilience and courage of the Ukrainian people in the face of adversity, as well as the revelation of the true face of the Russian regime.

It is a call to action for the world to stand in solidarity with Ukraine, to seek justice for the victims, and to work towards a future in which such atrocities are never repeated.

Anastasiia Herasymchuk
Deputy Editor-in-Chief at UkraineWorld