Geneva, 2 October 2026
Mr.
Vice-President, distinguished delegates,
The war in
Ukraine is a human rights catastrophe that is growing and
intensifying by the week, causing unfathomable pain to
civilians, and threatening an even greater disaster across
the entire region. We need urgent action to end it, in line
with the UN Charter and international law.
Against a
backdrop of unceasing brutality, our recent report found
shocking levels of sexual violence against civilians and
prisoners of war. The Russian Federation is using these
abhorrent acts to torture, intimidate and coerce individuals
and communities. Of more than 1,000 cases documented by my
Office, 89 per cent were attributed to Russian authorities
and 11 per cent to Ukraine. Most of the victims of sexual
violence were men, particularly in places of detention, but
women and children were also affected, primarily in occupied
territory of Ukraine.
This is just one terrible
manifestation of the cruelty that has come to define this
war. Alongside peace, there must be
accountability.
The full-scale invasion unleashed by
the Russian Federation is killing and injuring hundreds of
people every week, as frontlines barely move. Apartment
buildings, schools, medical centres, railways, seaports, gas
stations, shops and logistics and telecommunications
companies have been hit in recent attacks.
The Russian
Federation, as the aggressor, is inflicting immense
suffering on Ukrainians. The Russian leadership should also
consider what this war is doing to their own society, which
is sinking deeper into fear, denial, and a militarized
economy that puts death and destruction ahead of healthcare
and education. I’m shocked by the lack of empathy on
display.
Advertisement – scroll to continue reading
Continuous escalation is creating a vortex of
vengeance and reprisals that will have terrible consequences
for people and communities for decades to come.
Across
Ukraine, people are living in constant dread. Air raid
alerts in Kyiv were active for 33 hours during one 48-hour
period earlier this week, as missiles and drones rained down
on the city.
During the first eight months of this
year, we verified some 15,280 civilians killed and injured
– on average, more than 400 every week, for 34 weeks. This
is 55 per cent more than during the same period in
2025.
On 19 September, for example, Russian long-range
drone attacks killed four civilians, including three
children, in the Kyiv region. On 12 and 13 September, one
civilian was killed and 63 injured in attacks involving
missiles and drones in the Odesa region.
The number of
civilian casualties in the Russian Federation has reportedly
also increased.
During the night of 19-20 September,
the Russian authorities reported that 3 people were killed
and 41 injured in a major missile and drone attack in the
Moscow region. My Office is unable to verify these reports
fully; the authorities have not granted us
access.
Short-range drones kill and injure civilians,
prevent the delivery of humanitarian aid, and restrict
freedom of movement. Long-range drones are constantly
expanding their reach and the threat they pose to
civilians.
Ukraine is a laboratory for drone warfare.
We need urgent steps at the international level to deal with
the carnage wrought by these weapons systems around the
world.
The situation near the frontlines is a
particular concern. Civilian casualties are at very high
levels, caused by drone attacks, aerial bombardment,
shelling, and systems that launch multiple rockets,
devastating an entire area.
In the Donetsk, Kharkiv,
Sumy and Zaporizhzhia regions, the use of aerial glide bombs
by the Russian Federation has driven a significant increase
in civilian deaths and injuries. In the first eight months
of this year, these weapons killed and injured nearly 2,500
civilians –62 per cent more than during the same period
last year.
An estimated two thousand people are
trapped in Oleshky in desperate conditions, without running
water, electricity or gas. Food deliveries have been
severely disrupted, and the hospital is running out of fuel
to run its generators.
Attacks on energy
infrastructure and commercial property have increased
sharply, in clear disregard of international humanitarian
law.
Russian attacks on supermarkets and food
companies are already creating temporary shortages of
vegetables and dairy products in some areas. Damage to power
plants causes outages that affect water pumping stations.
Russian forces have repeatedly attacked transportation
infrastructure, including railways, ports, border crossings
and gas stations across Ukraine. As winter approaches,
Ukrainians fear the worst is yet to come.
Inside the
Russian Federation, Ukrainian forces have reportedly struck
warehouses and logistics centres belonging to major
e-commerce companies, along with oil
refineries.
Russia’s continued attempts to
incorporate the Ukrainian territory it occupies, most
recently by holding elections there earlier this month, are
another blatant violation of international law.
I am
alarmed by human rights violations linked to the presence of
fighters from third countries in this war. My staff have
interviewed prisoners of war from 36 countries who are held
by Ukraine; many said they were deceived into joining the
Russian forces.
Meanwhile, the massive use of
explosives and mines is polluting ecosystems and creating
new environmental risks. We do not yet know the full impact
of toxic chemicals on land, rivers and lakes. But it is
clear that today’s reckless warmongers are oblivious to
the harm they are causing future generations.
Mr.
President,
The conduct of this war to date cannot be
allowed to dictate its future. We need a decisive shift
towards de-escalation and peace.
Rebuilding momentum
towards negotiations is key. This calls for
confidence-building measures, based on human rights, that
could reduce the impact of hostilities on
civilians.
Such measures could include an agreement to
end attacks on economic targets and energy infrastructure;
local ceasefires on the frontlines; enabling civilians to
leave Oleshky; and a full exchange of prisoners of war,
respecting the principle of non-refoulement.
These
steps can be a basis for renewed efforts towards peace,
grounded in human rights and in line with the UN Charter,
international law, and General Assembly
resolutions.
We stand in solidarity with the civilians
who are bearing the brunt of this war.
To Russians, I
say: This war is serving no one apart from a powerful elite,
especially those with financial ties to the military. Its
continuation will only lead to more shattered families and
greater misery for ordinary people.
To Ukrainians, I
say: We are doing everything possible to support peace with
justice and accountability.
To the international
community, and particularly States with influence, I say:
please take urgent action to push for a negotiated peace
now, before this tragedy becomes even worse.
Thank
you.
