A United Nations annual report has, for the first time, placed Russian armed and security forces on a blacklist of actors suspected of sexual violence in conflict, according to reporting by the Associated Press. The document, expected to be formally released soon, also lists a total of 77 state and non-state actors across a dozen countries and notes a marked increase in documented cases of conflict-related sexual violence in 2025 compared with the previous year.
The report states that UN investigators, despite being denied access by Russia, independently verified 310 cases linked to Russian forces in Russia and occupied Ukrainian territories. The victims were identified as prisoners of war and civilian detainees, with most being men.
The designation follows years of reporting by Ukrainian authorities, UN human rights bodies, and independent journalists documenting alleged abuses of Ukrainians in Russian custody.
Earlier findings by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine recorded 376 cases of sexual violence tied to the war, including 262 men, 104 women, and children, among them 10 girls and two boys. Many of the male victims were reportedly tortured during detention in occupied areas or inside Russia.
