Main image: Emergency workers remove rubble and look for survivors at the site of Okhmatdyt children's hospital after it was hit by Russian missiles, in Kyiv, Ukraine, July 8, 2024. © 2024 AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka.
The international human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) reports that in 2024, Russia continued large-scale attacks on Ukraine’s energy network, civilian infrastructure, and intensified pressure on residents of occupied territories.
This is stated in HRW’s report.
“In 2024, Russian military forces repeatedly targeted densely populated areas, causing destruction and inflicting suffering on people across Ukraine. Most civilian casualties were caused by explosive weapons with wide-area effects, which also damaged residential buildings, hospitals, schools, cultural heritage sites, and other civilian infrastructure,” human rights advocates noted.
According to HRW, from January to December 2024, at least 459 attacks on medical facilities and personnel were recorded, including 349 assaults on healthcare institutions, injuring 119 staff and 50 patients. Overall, from February 24, 2022, to December 2024, the World Health Organization documented 2,195 attacks on medical facilities in Ukraine, resulting in at least 900 healthcare workers and patients being killed or injured.
Additionally, the report states that between March and August, Russian forces struck Ukrainian energy infrastructure at least 101 times across 17 regions, leading to significant power supply restrictions for the population.
Human rights advocates also highlighted systematic and gross human rights violations in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories.
These violations include extrajudicial executions, torture, sexual violence, arrests, deportations, and abductions of civilians. According to Ukrainian authorities, as of July 2024, Russia was unlawfully detaining over 14,000 Ukrainian civilians, the report says.
It also notes that Russian occupation authorities on temporarily occupied territories (TOT) forced residents to obtain Russian passports through persecution, intimidation, arbitrary detentions, and restrictions on access to essential social services, including medical care.
“Russian authorities in occupied Ukrainian territories continue efforts to suppress the Ukrainian language and curriculum, imposing the Russian educational system and language in schools,” HRW reports.
In Crimea, occupation authorities persecute and arbitrarily detain members of the Crimean Tatar community, journalists, and politically active individuals.
Forced conscription of local residents into the Russian army also continues in TOT.
“Russian authorities on occupied territories persist in drafting Ukrainian citizens into the Russian armed forces, which constitutes a war crime. Mobilization is enforced coercively, including among imprisoned Ukrainians,” the report states.
Human rights advocates also draw attention to Russia's mistreatment of Ukrainian prisoners.
“Russian forces continue to torture and abuse Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians detained in Russia. Most prisoners are held in poor conditions, without adequate food or medical care. In October, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry concluded that ‘Russian authorities have used torture against Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war, constituting a crime against humanity.’ About 80% of former prisoners of war reported experiencing sexual violence during their captivity in Russia,” the report states.
