UN says Russian forces have tortured and executed civilians in Ukraine

A boy walks past graves with bodies of civilians, who according to local people were killed by Russian soldiers, in Bucha, Ukraine, in April last year. Photograph: Reuters

Russian forces have carried out widespread and systematic torture of civilians detained in connection with their attack on Ukraine, summarily executing more than 70 of them, the UN human rights office said on Tuesday.

It interviewed hundreds of victims and witnesses for a report detailing more than 900 cases of civilians, including children and elderly people, being arbitrarily detained in the conflict, most of them by Russia. The vast majority of those interviewed said they were tortured and in some cases subjected to sexual violence during detention by Russian forces, the head of the UN human rights office in Ukraine said.