255 Witnesses, One Brutal Winter: UN Calls Russia's Energy Strikes Crimes Against Humanity

Russian authorities committed war crimes and crimes against humanity by deliberately attacking Ukraine's civilian energy infrastructure and inflicting great suffering, UN investigators said in findings that could inform accountability efforts. ^{[1] [3]}

The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine presented its conclusions on October 26, 2026, in a report submitted to the UN General Assembly. It examined large-scale energy attacks, particularly during the severe winter of 2025-2026, and their cumulative effects since autumn 2022. ^{[1] [2]}

The commission said the attacks followed a state policy to deprive civilians of electricity and essential services that depend on it. Russian commanders knew the heating facilities they targeted were indispensable to civilians, especially in winter, the investigators concluded. ^{[1] [3]}

The inquiry drew on accounts from 255 people who endured winter conditions across nine Ukrainian cities, alongside information from Ukrainian authorities, doctors and non-governmental organisations. Temperatures fell to minus 21 degrees Celsius as prolonged outages cut heating, electricity, water and gas. ^[1]

"I lay cold and hungry, without medicine, without anything," a woman from Kyiv told the commission. ^[1]

These are formal findings by an independent UN-mandated investigative body, not a court verdict. They do not convict anyone or impose a sentence, but establish an official international record that can inform efforts to hold those responsible to account. ^{[1] [3]}

The finding turns on intent

The commission concluded that intentionally directing attacks against civilian energy infrastructure constituted war crimes. It also found crimes against humanity through other inhumane acts that inflicted great suffering on civilians. Its assessment therefore reaches beyond damage to individual power plants to the policy behind the attacks and their combined human cost. ^{[1] [3]}

Investigators described waves involving hundreds of drones and missiles, increasing in frequency, intensity and geographic reach. They examined both the strikes and what happened when essential services repeatedly failed through the winter. ^{[1] [2]}

According to CNN, the commission's report cited an August declaration by Russia's Ministry of Defence announcing attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure and saying, "In winter you will freeze." The commission also said Russian authorities had made official declarations about further attacks and referred to a plan to carry them out. ^{[3] [1]}

CNN said the report names President Vladimir Putin, former defence minister Sergei Shoigu, current defence minister Andrey Belousov and military chief Valery Gerasimov in connection with responsibility for planning or overseeing the attacks. Those are the commission's reported findings, not judicial determinations of individual guilt. ^[3]

No Russian response to the commission's latest findings has been reported. ^[3]

When the power fails, the harm spreads

The civilian accounts came from Dnipro, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Poltava, Zaporizhzhia and Zhytomyr. Their experiences show how an attack on energy infrastructure can reach into homes far beyond the immediate blast site. ^[1]

Electricity supports more than lighting. Heating, water supplies and medical care can depend on it, so a lengthy outage can remove several necessities at once. The commission's account describes civilians facing that combination during severe cold. ^[1]

Older people faced particular danger, investigators said. Some could not use stairs and were afraid to use lifts, leaving them unable to reach safety during air-raid alerts or obtain essential services when their homes lost heat, power and water. ^[1]

For someone unable to leave an upper-floor home, a power cut can also become a loss of access to shelter or help. That is why the inquiry's account of suffering cannot be measured solely in damaged generating capacity. The civilian consequences are part of the conduct it assessed. ^[1]

The investigation covered the previous winter, but the danger was current when the findings emerged. Attacks on power plants had intensified again as winter approached, according to UN News. ^[1]

Recruitment across 29 countries

The commission also found compelling evidence that Russian authorities recruited men trafficked from 29 countries into the armed forces. It said deception and coercion were used in coordination with agents operating in different countries. ^{[1] [3]}

Many of the men were sent to dangerous frontline tasks, where many were killed or went missing, investigators said. Others surrendered or were captured. ^[1]

A woman whose husband was recruited from the Caribbean described the pressure in testimony to the commission. "They took his passport and just told him to sign here, here and here on the contract. It was only in Russian. He was totally pressured and had no choice," she said. ^[1]

That finding widens the inquiry's reach beyond civilians inside Ukraine to recruitment networks operating across borders. It also creates another potential strand of accountability, involving the recruitment process as well as what happened after the men entered Russian military service. ^{[1] [3]}

The UN Human Rights Council established the commission in March 2022 to investigate alleged abuses, violations of the laws of war and related crimes in the context of Russia's aggression against Ukraine. Its members are independent investigators, not UN staff. ^{[1] [3]}

The commission also examined Ukrainian armed forces' attacks on energy infrastructure in Russia and occupied parts of Ukraine. It said it could not investigate the impact of strikes inside Russia because Russian authorities denied access and did not answer its requests for information. ^[1]