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UN investigators have said war crimes have been committed in the conflict in Ukraine, citing Russian bombing of civilian areas, multiple executions, torture and horrific sexual abuse.

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"Based on the evidence gathered by the commission, it concluded that war crimes were committed in Ukraine," the head of the high-level team set up in May to investigate Russia's war crimes in Ukraine told the UN Human Rights Council. , Eric Mose.

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The categoricalness of the statement is unusual.

UN investigators usually refer the final confirmation of war crimes and similar violations to the courts.

The council was created by the Commission of Inquiry - the highest possible level of investigation - in May to investigate Russia's war crimes in Ukraine.

The team of three independent experts presented its first oral update to the council after starting initial investigations looking at the Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Sumy regions, and said it would expand the scope of the study going forward.

In his speech a day before the seven-month anniversary of Russia's invasion of the neighboring country, Mose pointed to "the Russian Federation's use of explosive weapons with a wide range of effects in populated areas", which he said was "the source of enormous harm and suffering to the civilian population". .

He stressed that a number of attacks the team investigated "were carried out indiscriminately between civilians and combatants", including cluster munition attacks in populated areas.

The team was particularly struck by the high number of executions in the areas it visited, as well as the frequent "visible signs of execution on the bodies, such as hands tied behind their backs, gunshot wounds to the head and slit throats".

Mose said the commission is currently investigating such deaths in 16 cities and towns and has received credible allegations of many more cases that it will try to document.

Investigators also received "consistent evidence of ill-treatment and torture that took place during illegal detention".

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Some of the victims told investigators they were transferred to Russia and held for weeks in prisons.

Others have "disappeared" after such transfers.

"Interlocutors describe beatings, electric shocks and forced undressing, as well as other types of violations in such detention facilities," Mose said.

The head of the commission stated that the investigators "also dealt with two cases of mistreatment of soldiers from the Russian Federation by the Ukrainian forces", adding that "although few in number, such cases continue to be the subject of attention".

The team also documented cases of sexual and gender-based violence, Mose said, and in some cases found the perpetrators to be Russian soldiers.

"There are examples of cases where relatives were forced to witness the crimes," he said.

"In the cases we investigated, the ages of victims of sexual and gender-based violence ranged from 4 to 82."

According to him, the commission has documented a wide range of crimes against children, including children who have been "raped, tortured and illegally imprisoned". 

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