Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure a war crime: UN

UN commission notes Russian weaponisation of cold in nearly five years of attacks on heating plants and power lines.

The UN says that Russia's persistent attacks on Ukrainian civilian targets and the weaponisation of winter cold constitute war crimes (File: AP)

Russia’s persistent attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure constitute war crimes as they weaponise the cold of winter, a United Nations commission has said.

The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine laid out in a report submitted to the UN General Assembly on Monday years of Russian attacks on heating plants, power lines, gas facilities and other infrastructure since the autumn of 2022.

list 1 of 3 Europe needs a war economy

list 2 of 3 Russia drops cluster bombs on Ukraine as Kyiv consolidates front line

list 3 of 3 Aleksandar Vucic, the Serbian leader brought down by students

The report was issued as Russia has stepped up its attacks on such civilian targets. Moscow has sought every year since its full-scale invasion in February 2022 to inflict suffering on Ukrainian citizens with an apparent ambition of draining the country’s will and ability to continue to defend its territory.

The commission said it has investigated the impact on civilians of large-scale attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and their cumulative effect since 2022.

“The frequency, intensity and geographic range of systematic waves of attacks with hundreds of drones and missiles at a time have increased over the years and inflicted significant damage to Ukraine’s energy sector,” the report noted.

In particular, the report focused on the Russian attacks during the severe winter of 2025–2026, when temperatures dropped to minus 21 degrees Celsius (-5.8 degrees Fahrenheit). That left millions of people in Ukraine facing lengthy outages of heating, electricity, water and gas, and forced them to cope with intolerable living conditions, it said.

The commission assessed that the Russian commanders ordering the attacks knew that the heating facilities they targeted were indispensable to the civilian population.

“Russian authorities have made official declarations concerning further attacks and referred to a plan to carry them out. The commission concluded that they committed war crimes of intentionally directing attacks against civilian objects,” the report concluded.

Erik Mose, chair of the commission, noted that as the cold season approaches, “the attacks have intensified once again, raising serious concerns about the threats to civilians’ lives and health”.

Russia and Ukraine have continued their daily attacks on one another as winter approaches, with little indication that a ceasefire might be in sight.

On Monday, a Russian strike on Ukraine’s southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia injured four people overnight, regional governor Mykhailo Semikin said on Telegram.

The Ministry of Defence in Moscow accused Ukraine of repeatedly striking the Russian-controlled town of Oleshky in southern Ukraine ahead of a planned local ceasefire this week.

The UN commission, which was set up by the Human Rights Council, in its report also accused Moscow of human trafficking in connection with the recruitment of foreign fighters into the Russian armed forces “in violation of international human rights law”.

“The majority of those recruited have been killed, went missing, while others have also been injured or captured,” the report read.

For instance, there have been numerous reports during the nearly five-year war of men from India having been duped into fighting on the front lines .

联合国委员会注意到，俄罗斯在过去近五年中利用寒冷武器袭击供热厂和输电线路。

联合国表示，俄罗斯持续袭击乌克兰平民目标以及利用严寒天气进行武器化攻击，构成战争罪行。（图片来源：美联社）

联合国一个委员会表示，俄罗斯持续攻击乌克兰能源基础设施的行为构成战争罪行，因为他们利用严冬的寒冷作为武器。

乌克兰独立国际调查委员会周一向联合国大会提交的一份报告指出，自 2022 年秋季以来，俄罗斯对乌克兰的供热厂、输电线路、天然气设施和其他基础设施进行了多年的袭击。

列表 1/3 欧洲需要战时经济

列表 2/3：俄罗斯向乌克兰投掷集束炸弹，基辅巩固前线

名单3/3：被学生推翻的塞尔维亚领导人亚历山大·武契奇

这份报告发布之际，俄罗斯正加大力度袭击此类平民目标。自2022年2月全面入侵乌克兰以来，莫斯科每年都试图给乌克兰民众带来苦难，其明显意图是削弱乌克兰保卫领土的意志和能力。

该委员会表示，它调查了自 2022 年以来，大规模袭击乌克兰能源基础设施对平民的影响及其累积效应。

报告指出，“多年来，一次性动用数百架无人机和导弹的系统性攻击浪潮的频率、强度和地理范围不断增加，对乌克兰能源部门造成了重大损害。”

该报告重点关注了2025-2026年严冬期间俄罗斯对乌克兰的袭击，当时气温骤降至零下21摄氏度（零下5.8华氏度）。报告指出，这导致乌克兰数百万人面临长时间的供暖、电力、自来水和天然气中断，迫使他们忍受难以忍受的生活条件。

委员会评估认为，下令发动袭击的俄罗斯指挥官知道，他们袭击的目标供暖设施对平民来说至关重要。

报告总结道：“俄罗斯当局已就进一步袭击发表了官方声明，并提及了实施袭击的计划。委员会认定，他们犯下了蓄意袭击民用目标的战争罪行。”

委员会主席埃里克·莫斯指出，随着寒冷季节的临近，“袭击事件再次加剧，引发了人们对平民生命和健康受到威胁的严重担忧”。

随着冬季临近，俄罗斯和乌克兰之间的每日交火仍在继续，几乎没有任何停火迹象。

周一，俄罗斯对乌克兰东南部城市扎波罗热的袭击造成四人受伤，地区州长米哈伊洛·塞米金在 Telegram 上表示。

莫斯科国防部指责乌克兰在本周计划的当地停火之前，多次袭击俄罗斯控制的乌克兰南部城镇奥列什基。

由人权理事会设立的联合国委员会在其报告中还指责莫斯科违反国际人权法，以人口贩运的方式招募外国战斗人员加入俄罗斯武装部队。

报告称：“大多数被招募的人已经死亡或失踪，还有一些人受伤或被俘。”

例如，在这场持续近五年的战争中，曾多次有报道称，来自印度的男子被骗到前线作战。