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last wk.

UN Says Russia Committed War Crimes by Targeting Ukraine's Energy System

The report links state policy to deliberate attacks that intensified before last winter, heightening humanitarian danger for civilians.

Electricians work to restore the power grid in front of a destroyed private house in Kyiv region. A a 14-year-old was killed in the attack on September 30.
People look at a crater after a Russian missile strike in a residential neighborhood in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Victoria Deineko, her husband Ievhen Deineko and their daughter Mia look at a multi-story residential building damaged in a Russian missile strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Workers prepare to lift a section of a pipe at Kyiv CHPP-4, which is severely damaged in a massive Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, on February 6, 2026. On the night of February 2-3, Russian forces strike the heating system of Kyiv CHPP-4 (Darnytska CHPP) with five ballistic missiles, causing critical damage and forcing its shutdown. As a result, 1,129 residential buildings in Dniprovskyi and part of Darnytskyi districts, along with 46 schools, 72 kindergartens, 18 medical institutions, and other social and urban infrastructure facilities, are left without heating and hot water amid temperatures of -25?C. (Photo by Volodymyr Tarasov/Ukrinform/NurPhoto)

Overview

  • The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine published its report on Monday, Oct. 26, 2026, and concluded that repeated strikes on power plants, heating facilities, substations and gas infrastructure were carried out with intent and meet the legal threshold for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
  • Investigators tied the campaign to Russian state policy and identified senior officials by role — including President Vladimir Putin, Sergei Shoigu, Andrey Belousov and Valery Gerasimov — as those responsible for planning or overseeing the attacks.
  • The commission documented acute suffering during the 2025–2026 winter, citing medical records and 255 eyewitness testimonies that describe prolonged blackouts, loss of heating, cold-related injuries and deaths, and disruption of hospitals, schools and water services.
  • The report also found compelling evidence that Russian authorities, working with recruiters and agents, used deception or coercion to bring men from 29 countries into the Russian armed forces in conditions that the commission characterizes as trafficking and serious human-rights violations.
  • Russia's UN mission rejected the findings as falsified, the report has been submitted to the UN General Assembly, and any legal consequences will depend on international bodies and political will while Ukraine prepares for further humanitarian strain this winter.