UN-backed inquiry accuses Russia of war crimes in Ukraine

A woman watches the Memory Wall of Fallen Defenders of Ukraine in Russian-Ukrainian War, on Ukrainian Volunteer Day in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 14, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Kravchenko)

Russian attacks against civilians in Ukraine, including systematic torture and killing in occupied regions, amount to war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity, according to a report from a UN-backed inquiry.

The sweeping human rights report, released a year to the day after a Russian air strike killed hundreds sheltering in a theatre in Mariupol, marked a highly unusual condemnation of a member of the U.N. Security Council.