An international armed conflict (IAC) between Russia and Ukraine, triggered in 2014 by Russia’s intervention and occupation of Crimea, persisted during the period under review, with Russian belligerent occupation of several Ukrainian regions and failed attempts at a peace deal. In 2022 Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine, occupied further Ukrainian territories and conducted prolonged operations, while Ukraine also carried out strikes inside Russia. During the reporting period Ukraine temporarily occupied parts of the Kursk region in Russia. Belarus provided extensive support to Russia without being generally regarded as a party to the armed conflict; the same applies to other States who have provided support in the form of weapon delivery and intelligence sharing. Conversely, the fact that some of its troops are directly involved in military confrontations with Ukraine makes North Korea a co-belligerent alongside Russia.
Classification(s) and Parties to the Conflict(s)
- IAC between the Russian Federation and North Korea, on one side, and Ukraine, on the other
- Military occupation of parts of the territory of Ukraine by the Russian Federation
- Military occupation of part of the Kursk region (Russian Federation) by Ukraine
During the reporting period the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine caused extensive civilian harm, largely due to Russian aerial attacks on cities and civilian infrastructure. Evidence indicates strikes that were indiscriminate or disproportionate (if not deliberately targeted at civilians), attacks on homes, medical facilities, power plants and cultural property, and repeated use of chemical weapons, armed drones, cluster munitions and anti-personnel mines, in breach of international humanitarian law (IHL). Medical and rescue personnel and other protected persons were targeted, including through double tap strikes. Serious violations against persons in the hands of the enemy persisted, with executions of prisoners of war, torture, sexual violence, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, forced conscription, forcible transfers and large-scale expropriation in occupied areas. Ukraine struck energy facilities in Russia and faced allegations of abuses against prisoners of war and civilians.
Historical Background
First phase of conflict (2014–22)
Following mass protests and a change of government in Ukraine, in early 2014 unidentified forces (later acknowledged as Russian servicemen) took control of Crimea and local de facto authorities organized a referendum and accession process to Russia. In eastern Ukraine, armed groups in Donetsk and Luhansk seized public buildings, declared independence as ‘People’s Republics’, and fought Ukrainian forces. Ceasefire arrangements under the Minsk process failed to end hostilities, which continued with fluctuating intensity. Volodymyr Zelensky was elected President of Ukraine in 2019.
Legal classification (2014–22)
The situation in the Donbas between 2014 and 2022 was commonly treated as a non-international armed conflict (NIAC) between Ukraine, on the one hand, and the ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’ (DPR) and the ‘Luhansk People’s Republic’ (LPR), on the other hand. However, multiple judicial and expert assessments have concluded that Russia exercised overall control over the armed groups in eastern Ukraine from mid-2014, making the armed conflict in those regions an international one between Ukraine and the Russian Federation. In parallel, Russia’s direct military involvement on Ukrainian territory and the status of Crimea triggered an international armed conflict (IAC) and a belligerent occupation of the peninsula by the Russian Federation.
Large-scale invasion from 2022
In 2021, tensions escalated between Russia, on the one hand, and Ukraine and several Western States, on the other. In January 2021, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky adopted a more assertive stance towards Russia, and sought to initiate discussions about the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO. President Putin ordered massive deployments of Russian troops along the Ukrainian border. On 21 February 2022, Russia recognized the ‘independence and sovereignty’ of the DPR and LPR and subsequently launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine from both Russian and Belarusian territory. The Russian offensive expanded across multiple fronts and was later followed by claims to ‘incorporate’ the additional occupied regions of Ukraine in addition to the DPR and LPR. Intense fighting ensued in the east and south, while Ukraine conducted airstrikes into Russian territory. Martial law led to the postponement of scheduled elections in Ukraine.
Foreign involvement
Belarus provided extensive facilitation to Russian operations, though whether it became a party to the armed conflict depends on evidence that direct participation or sufficiently direct connection to ensuing harm could be attributed to it. External military assistance by other States without direct participation (such as by delivering weapons or providing general military intelligence) did not make them parties to the conflict. The same situation applies to the enlistment or conscription of foreign nationals in the armed forces of one of the parties.
Key Developments (2023–2025)
The reporting period saw two major developments:
- Hostilities and territorial control: Hostilities between the Russian Federation and Ukraine continued. Beginning 6 August 2024, a Ukrainian counter-offensive in the Kursk region opened a new front in the north-east of Ukraine and, for the first time, saw combat on Russian territory. Ukrainian forces gained control over parts of Kursk and Belgorod in the Russian Federation, and later reported establishing a military commandant’s office to administer Russian areas under their authority. According to Ukrainian statements, the commandant’s office was intended to ensure order and meet local needs in areas under Ukrainian control. Russian efforts to reverse these gains intensified through late 2024 and early 2025. On 26 April 2025, Russia reported restoring authority over the last populated area of Kursk previously held by Ukraine and announced the creation of a security zone in Ukraine’s Sumy region.
- Foreign involvement: From October 2024, reports indicated the deployment and training of North Korean servicemen in the Kursk region, with visual material showing personnel in Russian uniforms and subsequent accounts of North Korean soldiers captured in combat. On 26 April 2025, Russian officials publicly acknowledged North Korean participation in hostilities in Kursk, and the North Korean state news agency confirmed this role the same day.
International Armed Conflict
Parties to the Conflict(s)
State Parties
- Russian Federation
- Ukraine
- Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea)
ATTACKS ON CIVILIANS
From 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025, at least 2,245 civilians were killed and 11,353 injured in Ukraine, mostly as a result of Russian aerial attacks. June 2025 recorded the highest monthly civilian death toll since the war’s opening months, as aerial attacks on densely populated Ukrainian cities and towns sharply increased and regularly violated the principle of distinction or at least the principle of proportionality. Some of the attacks were indiscriminate while others, involving precision weapons, appear deliberately directed at civilians. Russian authorities reported civilian casualties from Ukrainian attacks in occupied Ukraine and in Russia, accounting for about five per cent of civilian deaths. Most of the incidents were linked to the Ukrainian operation in Kursk and could not be independently verified.
Use of Chemical Weapons
Russia has used prohibited chemical weapons, as evidenced by repeated technical assessments confirming the presence of CS gas – a riot-control agent whose use is prohibited as a method of warfare – in multiple battlefield samples from Ukraine. Although those assessments do not attribute responsibility, the surrounding circumstances indicate deployment by Russian forces. Ukraine has also accused Russian of using tear gas to clear trenches and has reported more than one thousand such incidents since the invasion began. There were also credible yet unconfirmed allegations that a toxic chemical, chloropicrin, was used by Russian forces as a method of warfare. The use of chloropicrin is comprehensively prohibited in warfare and, if confirmed, would constitute a war crime.
Use of Armed Drones
Armed drones were increasingly used to strike Ukrainian civilians, in violation of general rules on targeting under IHL. Between December 2024 and May 2025, 207 civilians were killed and 1,365 injured, about 70 per cent of whom in Kherson alone. Camera-equipped drones and widely shared operator videos show real-time awareness (on the part of the attackers) of the civilian status of the targets, with perpetrators boasting of attacking anyone who moves. Evidence indicates civilians were deliberately hunted, including those in ambulances, fire trucks and humanitarian convoys, prompting terror and displacement from Kherson. Similar patterns occurred elsewhere, including strikes on evacuation convoys and public transport, with no indication of lawful military objectives. These incidents reflect systematic and deliberate attacks on civilians, medical and humanitarian personnel and civilian objects, intended to spread terror among the civilian population and constituting serious violations of IHL. In some instances, these incidents also violate the prohibition against outrages upon personal dignity.
Use of Cluster Munitions
Neither Russia nor Ukraine is party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions and use of such weapons is not per se banned under customary IHL. However, their employment may violate the prohibition of indiscriminate attacks, especially when used against populated areas. During the reporting period, several strikes by Russian armed forces on urban settings appeared to involve cluster munitions, producing high rates of civilian casualties, including many children, and widespread injury. In some incidents, official claims that military personnel were targeted were not corroborated by independent reporting, while available imagery and accounts pointed to predominantly civilian presence at the impact sites. Taken together, the pattern of use and effects in cities indicates likely indiscriminate attacks contrary to IHL.
Use of Anti-Personnel Mines
Ukraine is a State party to the 1997 Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention; however, it has used anti-personnel mines from 2022 and announced plans in 2024 to import them, in breach of its treaty obligations. Although Ukraine purported to suspend the Convention’s operation in July 2025, this step is without legal effect, leaving Ukraine in continuing breach of its obligations under the Convention. Russia, which is not a party to the 1997 Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, employed anti-personnel mines on a massive scale, resulting in extensive contamination, making Ukraine one of the world’s most heavily mined nations, and leading to dozens of thousands of amputations.
ATTACKS ON CIVILIAN INFRASTRUCTURE
Russia has systematically attacked civilian objects in Ukraine, in breach of the principle of distinction or at least the principle of proportionality. Russian aerial attacks on densely populated aeras sharply increased towards the middle of 2025 and while some attacks were indiscriminate, others involved precision weapons, indicating that civilian objects were deliberately targeted. Specially protected objects, including hospital and other medical facilities, power plants and cultural property, were also regularly attacked.
Russian forces continued to employ missiles, glide bombs and armed drones against residential areas across Ukraine, including cities far from the front lines. Intense aerial attacks caused heavy civilian casualties and destroyed homes and other civilian objects, including educational, medical and cultural sites, with apartment buildings directly hit and collapsing. In several instances no justification was offered that lawful military objectives were targeted, or claims of striking energy infrastructure were unsupported, while munitions fell far from any conceivable military objective. The pattern raises serious concerns of indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks under IHL.
VIOLATIONS AGAINST PERSONS IN THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY
During the period under review, serious IHL violations were reported, including credible accounts of executions of prisoners of war by Russian forces and allegation of one such conduct by Ukrainian forces. Systematic torture and sexual violence of Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilian detainees by Russian authorities persisted, alongside deaths in custody, coerced confessions and proceedings that denied combatant immunity and fair trial guarantees. In occupied areas of Ukraine, civilians were arbitrarily detained, disappeared, persecuted, forcibly conscripted following imposed citizenship, and dispossessed as homes were expropriated while the occupying power encouraged settlement of its own population. Ukraine briefly exercised occupation in parts of Kursk region, in relation to which Russia later reported civilian deaths. Extensive use of mines provoked large numbers of amputations among soldiers and civilians, creating long-term disability and rehabilitation needs.
- Murder
- Torture
- Arbitrary Detention
- Enforced Disappearances
- Forced Recruitment
- Sexual Violence
- Forcible Transfers
- Persons with Disabilities
Credible allegations from late 2024 to May 2025 indicate executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war by Russian forces (including a widely verified mass killing), alongside public exhortations by senior figures and reported orders to take no prisoners. Such conducts, including orders to , constitute serious violations of IHL and war crimes. One credible allegation also concerns the execution of a Russian prisoner of war by Ukrainian forces. . Deliberate attacks on persons hors de combat seriously breach IHL, and the publicized imagery may amount to outrages upon personal dignity.
Death and Ill-Treatment of Civilians in Custody
Civilian detainees held by Russian occupation authorities were systematically subjected to torture, sexual violence and other forms of ill treatment. Severe abuse and fatalities occurred during detention and transfer. One emblematic case concerned a detained Ukrainian journalist who died while being transferred for detention in Russia, whose body was later returned with evident signs of torture and with internal organs missing, including her brain, eyes and larynx.