He added that the Commission is currently investigating executions in 16 towns and settlements, and has received credible allegations regarding many more such cases. Common elements to these crimes included the prior detention of the victims and visible signs of execution, such as hands tied behind backs, gunshot wounds to the head, and slit throats.
Witnesses provided the Commission with consistent accounts of ill-treatment and torture carried out during unlawful confinement. Some of the victims reported that after initial detention by Russian forces in Ukraine, they were transferred to the Russian Federation and held for weeks in detention centres, where they were subjected to torture and other forms of ill-treatment.
The investigation into sexual and gender-based violence has shown that some Russian Federation soldiers committed such crimes. The age of victims of sexual and gender-based violence ranged from four to 82 years.
The Commission has also found that children were exposed to repeated explosions, violations, forced displacement and separation from family members, as well as other violations.
In the four areas where the investigation was conducted -- Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Sumy -- the Commission processed two incidents of ill-treatment against Russian Federation soldiers by Ukrainian forces.
While few in number, such cases continue to be the subject of the Commission’s attention.