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United Nations Security Council 

Annual Open Debate on Conflict-Related Sexual Violence

Intervention by the Delegation of Ukraine

8 July, 2026

Mr. President,

Ukraine thanks the briefers for their presentations.

Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine has brought back to the European continent a myriad of war crimes that many believed belonged to the darkest chapters of history. Yet among this catalogue of atrocities, conflict-related sexual violence stands apart through its particular cruelty and depravity. These crimes are designed to strip victims of dignity, erase identity, terrorize entire communities and ultimately break the will of the Ukrainian nation.

This year’s Secretary-General's report leaves no room for ambiguity: conflict-related sexual violence has become woven into the fabric of Russia's modus operandi. It is inflicted deliberately, systematically and with a clear purpose to humiliate, dominate and destroy.

The aggressor State has institutionalized sexual violence as a method of torture in places of detention throughout the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine, as well as within the Russian Federation itself. Victims include prisoners of war, abducted and illegally detained civilians held in penal colonies, secret detention facilities and so-called filtration camps.

The crimes they describe are almost beyond language: rape, gang rape, rape with objects, forced nudity, genital mutilation, castration and electric shocks and beatings to the genitals . Approximately 80 per cent of Ukrainian men released from Russian captivity report the use of electric shocks applied to the genital area.  People are routinely coerced into confessing to crimes they did not commit. Some are driven to confess simply for the chance to hear the voice of a loved one or merely to survive another day.

It is worth recalling that these crimes are committed not by an outlaw militia beyond the reach of international law. They are committed by the Russian Federation – a State that continues to occupy, albeit unlawfully, the seat of a permanent member of this very Council.

While men constitute the overwhelming majority of documented victims, women have been subjected to these crimes as well. Numerous international mechanisms have documented rape, including with batons and other objects, repeated and collective rapes, and sexual violence as a form of torture, committed against female prisoners of war, detainees and civilian women in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine. These crimes inflict wounds that do not disappear with liberation, but continue to haunt survivors, their families and entire communities.

In this context Ukraine welcomes the Secretary-General's decision to list the Russian armed and security forces among parties that systematically engage in conflict-related sexual violence. Russia is now listed under both the Children and Armed Conflict and the conflict-related sexual violence mandates.

But listing cannot become merely another entry in another UN report. As the Secretary-General rightly recalls in one of his reports, State actors repeatedly listed cannot participate in UN peacekeeping operations. This principle was further reinforced by UN Security Council resolutions 2242 and 2467, and we count on resolute action to ensure its full implementation.

Accountability also requires exposing the full scale and systematic nature of these crimes and atrocities. Secretary General’s annual report documents hundreds of  conflict-related sexual violence cases despite Russia’s almost complete denial of access to places of detention in Russia and to the whole temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine. If this is what the world knows without access, imagine what remains hidden. The international community must not normalize Russia's obstruction. Every denied visit and every unanswered request must be met with stronger international pressure.

Ukraine, on its part, continues to provide comprehensive access to independent international monitors throughout the territory under its control. The aggressor State must be held to the same standard.

Mr. President,

As of today, Ukrainian law enforcement authorities have registered nearly 400 cases of conflict-related sexual violence committed by Russian aggressor. These figures are only the tip of the iceberg. Because of stigma, trauma, fear and victim-blaming, it is estimated that only about one in ten survivors is willing or able to report these crimes.We will only be able to assess the true scale of these crimes after the liberation of the occupied territories of Ukraine, where people are currently deprived of any protection and international monitoring bodies have no access to these areas.

In this context, Ukraine highly values its cooperation with Special Representative Pramilla Patten and her Office. Over the past years this cooperation has evolved into a truly comprehensive, multidimensional and results-oriented partnership. Together we have strengthened Ukraine’s legislation on conflict-related sexual violence, enhanced prosecutorial and investigative capacities, embedded survivor-centred and trauma-informed approaches throughout our justice system, improved access to legal aid, delivered extensive training for prosecutors, investigators, judges, police and security institutions, and developed Ukraine's interim reparations framework for survivors.

This partnership demonstrates what can be achieved when UN expertise meets national determination. We look forward to further building on these achievements.

Ukraine will also continue to ensure that every allegation of conflict-related sexual violence is thoroughly investigated, every survivor is heard and every perpetrator is brought to justice. Only by confronting the truth in its entirety can we dismantle impunity, deliver justice to victims and survivors, and lay the foundations for a comprehensive, just and lasting peace based on unwavering respect for international law.

I thank you.