For the First Time, UN Adds Russian Forces to “List of Shame” for Wartime Sexual Violence
What transpired?
In the UN Secretary-General’s annual report on conflict-related sexual violence, Russian armed forces and security agencies have officially appeared for the first time among the parties reasonably suspected of committing—or bearing responsibility for—such crimes. Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, announced this.
Ukrainian civil society organizations had been campaigning for Russia’s inclusion in this list for years. As early as December 2024, organizations such as SEMA Ukraine, Nu-ka Sestry [Go, Sisters], Vypusknyky [Graduates], and 29 Decembria appealed to the UN Secretary-General, demanding that Russia be added to the “list of shame” for systemic sexual violence against Ukrainian citizens. In 2026, this advocacy work continued at the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York.
What is the “list of shame”?
The so-called “list of shame” is neither a formal judicial registry nor a sanctions list in the strict sense. It is the informal name given to an annex of the UN Secretary-General’s annual report on conflict-related sexual violence. In this annex, the UN lists parties to armed conflicts for which there is credible and verified evidence of repeated incidents of rape or other forms of wartime sexual violence. The list can include both state forces and non-state armed groups—such as armies, security agencies, paramilitary units, or organized factions.
For instance, the list of parties suspected of conflict-related sexual violence has—in various years and report annexes—cited parties to conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, and other countries; Hamas, too, has previously appeared on this list.
What does the UN report?
Despite lacking access to detention facilities within Russia and in occupied territories, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine has verified 310 cases of conflict-related sexual violence committed by Russian armed forces and security services.
The report notes that Russian authorities systematically denied international observers access to Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians held in detention. Consequently, the UN obtained a significant portion of its information only after individuals had been released from captivity or had managed to leave occupied territories.
The majority of victims in the UN-verified cases were men. According to the report, the victims included 280 men, 26 women, and 4 girls. These victims were Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians held in Russian detention facilities. In such conditions, sexual violence serves as a form of torture, humiliation, intimidation, and psychological pressure.
The alleged perpetrators of these crimes included not only military personnel but also members of Russian security agencies—specifically, officers from the Federal Penitentiary Service and the Federal Security Service. The Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group also notes that the UN mission documented 31 cases of conflict-related sexual violence involving members of the Ukrainian armed forces, the SBU, and penitentiary staff. The majority of these cases occurred prior to 2025. At the same time, the report emphasizes that Ukraine continued to grant independent observers, lawyers, and relatives access to Russian prisoners of war and detained civilians. Ukraine also took measures to strengthen policies and legislation regarding the prevention of conflict-related sexual violence, particularly through cooperation with the UN.
Meanwhile, as of the end of May 2026, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine had documented 398 incidents of conflict-related sexual violence. The victims included 248 women, 150 men, and 23 children.
Why is it important?
The inclusion of Russian armed forces and security agencies on the UN list does not constitute a judicial verdict and, in itself, does not establish the liability of specific perpetrators. However, it is significant for the international recognition of the systemic nature of sexual violence associated with the war against Ukraine. As human rights defender Halyna Skipalska notes, such a list serves as official confirmation that the problem is not limited to isolated incidents but requires an international response.
This decision strengthens Ukraine’s position in advocacy and in diplomatic pressure, as well as in future efforts to hold perpetrators accountable. It can serve as an additional argument for sanctions policies, international prosecution, restricting cooperation with involved entities, and demanding that Russia cease such crimes, allow independent monitoring of detention facilities, and ensure protection for victims.
This is also crucial for future justice. Under international law, conflict-related sexual violence can be classified as a war crime or a crime against humanity. Under certain circumstances, such acts may also form part of a broader policy of persecution, intimidation, or the destruction of a group. Therefore, it is important to document the conditions under which these acts occurred, the identities of the perpetrators, the chain of command, and the recurring nature of such practices.
What penalties does international law prescribe for sexual violence?
International law regards sexual violence linked to armed conflict as one of the gravest international crimes. Specifically, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court stipulates that such acts may be classified as war crimes, crimes against humanity, or—under certain circumstances—as an element of genocide. Key factors include the context in which the crime is committed, its scale, its recurrence, its link to the armed conflict, and the intent of the perpetrators or organizers.
Sexual violence may be classified as a war crime if it is directly linked to the war. This applies to cases where violence is committed against civilians in occupied territories, prisoners of war, unlawfully detained individuals, or other persons under the control of a party to the conflict.
In particular, the application of electric shocks to the genitals of prisoners of war in detention facilities constitutes sexual violence and is classified as a war crime. Interviews with exchanged prisoners of war indicate that many were subjected to such torture by various guards in different Russian detention facilities. This concerns individuals held incommunicado who have not yet faced formal charges or trial. It provides grounds to characterize the crime as systematic and widespread—that is, to consider classifying such actions as crimes against humanity.
Incidents of rape targeting civilians—both women and men—occurred on a similarly massive scale. When sexual violence against civilians is not an isolated incident but occurs as part of a widespread and systematic attack on the civilian population, it too may be classified as a crime against humanity. In such cases, the significance lies not only in the act of violence itself but also in the fact that it forms part of a broader policy of terror, persecution, intimidation, or subjugation of the population.
In certain instances, sexual violence may also be viewed as an element of genocide. This applies when such crimes are committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group as such.
Liability may also extend to those who issued orders, organized the crimes, incited them, aided in their commission, or created conditions fostering impunity. Top command responsibility is particularly important. Military commanders and civilian leaders may be held liable for crimes committed by their subordinates if they knew, or should have known, about such actions yet failed to take the necessary and feasible measures to prevent the crimes, halt them, or report the information to competent authorities for investigation.
