A United Nations commission has concluded that Russia’s repeated strikes on Ukraine’s energy network amount to war crimes, saying Moscow is using winter’s cold as a weapon. The findings appear in a report submitted to the UN General Assembly on Monday by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine.
The document lists years of attacks on heating plants, power lines, gas facilities and other infrastructure, dating back to the autumn of 2022. It was published as Russia has increased its strikes on civilian targets, which the commission links to a broader aim of wearing down Ukrainians’ capacity and willingness to keep defending their territory.
Winter strikes left millions without heat and power
The report focuses in particular on the winter of 2025–2026, when temperatures fell to minus 21 degrees Celsius (-5.8 degrees Fahrenheit). According to the commission, millions of people faced long interruptions to heating, electricity, water and gas, forcing them to endure conditions it described as intolerable.
Also read: Europe enters winter with historically low gas reserves, IEA warns
The commission said it examined the effect on civilians of large-scale attacks and their combined impact since 2022. It described waves of strikes involving hundreds of drones and missiles at once, which it said had grown more frequent, more intense and more widespread over the years, causing significant damage to Ukraine’s energy sector.
Commission finds deliberate targeting of civilian objects
The commission assessed that Russian commanders who ordered the strikes knew the heating facilities they targeted were vital to the civilian population. It also pointed to official statements from Russian authorities about further attacks and a plan to carry them out.
On that basis, the commission concluded that Russia had committed war crimes by intentionally directing attacks against civilian objects. Erik Mose, the commission’s chair, said that as the cold season returns, “the attacks have intensified once again, raising serious concerns about the threats to civilians’ lives and health”.
Daily fighting and foreign recruits in focus
Russia and Ukraine continue to attack each other daily, with little sign that a ceasefire is near. On Monday, a Russian strike on the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia injured four people overnight, regional governor Mykhailo Semikin said on Telegram. Russia’s Ministry of Defence, for its part, accused Ukraine of repeatedly striking the Russian-controlled town of Oleshky in southern Ukraine ahead of a planned local ceasefire this week.
The commission, which was set up by the Human Rights Council, also accused Moscow of human trafficking linked to the recruitment of foreign fighters into its 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 said.
The report comes amid numerous reports during the nearly five-year war of men from India being tricked into fighting on the front lines.
