Russia has committed ‘apparent war crimes,’ Human Rights Watch says.

WARSAW — A number one human rights group mentioned it had documented “obvious conflict crimes” by Russian forces in opposition to Ukrainian civilians within the occupied areas of the Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Kyiv areas in Ukraine.

The report, which was printed by Human Rights Watch on Sunday, relies on a sequence of interviews with eye witnesses, victims and native residents of Russia-occupied territories between Feb. 27 and March 14. It paperwork with chilling element quite a few instances of laws-of-war violations, together with repeated rape, two abstract killings in addition to different incidents of illegal violence and threats in opposition to civilians.

“The instances we documented quantity to unspeakable, deliberate cruelty and violence in opposition to Ukrainian civilians,” mentioned Hugh Williamson, the director of Human Rights Watch’s Europe and Central Asia division. “Rape, homicide, and different violent acts in opposition to folks within the Russian forces’ custody must be investigated as conflict crimes.”

The report’s findings didn’t embrace experiences of actions in current weeks in cities like Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, the place Russian troops have been pulling again in current days as a part of their retreat from the capital.

Struggle crimes instances could be introduced earlier than the Worldwide Felony Court docket within the Hague, however profitable prosecution could be difficult, specialists say.

“It might doubtless be tough to show in court docket,’’ mentioned David Scheffer, a global regulation knowledgeable. “The circumstances are unknown. Who executed them. Who sure their fingers. This might require a really tough and detailed investigation.’’

“That is very completely different from a navy strike on a metropolis,’’ he mentioned.

Accusations can be introduced earlier than the Worldwide Court docket of Justice, however the United Nations Safety Council could be answerable for imposing any ruling in opposition to Russia; as considered one of 5 members of the Safety Council, Russia would have veto energy over any determination.

The Human Rights Watch report comes as international outrage in opposition to Moscow mounted on Sunday following allegations that Russian forces had executed civilians in Ukraine, and because the retreat of Russian troops from the suburbs of Kyiv provided a stark image of the devastating toll of President Vladimir V. Putin’s six-week-old conflict.

The brutality of the scenes are mirrored by a number of the accounts from the report: One eyewitness from the city of Bucha described an execution there in early March, wherein Russian troopers compelled 5 males to kneel on a roadside and pull their shirts over their heads earlier than capturing one at the back of the pinnacle.

In one other case, a 31-year-old girl described being crushed and raped repeatedly by a Russian soldier in an area faculty in Kharkiv, the place she had been sheltering together with her household. “I’m fortunate to be alive,” she mentioned.

“The instances that we documented are corroborated by these current allegations,” mentioned Yulia Gorbunova, the creator of the Human Rights Watch report, referring to the current experiences circulating from Bucha. “What’s rising now, if confirmed, is kind of horrendous and provides a sign of the size of those atrocities,” she mentioned.

Marlise Simons contributed reporting from Paris.