Russian soldiers guard a Ukrainian military base in Perevalnoe, in the Crimea region of Ukraine, in March 2014. Photograph: Sergey Ponomarev/New York TimesThe human rights court found that Russia had targeted and suppressed Ukrainian activists and religious leaders in Crimea as part of a pattern of human rights violations after it took over the peninsula near the Black Sea from Ukraine in 2014.
The court said there was evidence of “multiple and grave” human rights violations by the security services and police. Ukrainian political prisoners had been beaten, subjected to electric shocks and mock executions to extract information, which the court classed as torture.One killed, four injured in Ukraine drone attacks on Russia’s Belgorod region, says governor
‘Our motivation is so high’: Ukrainians target Olympic glory despite war and row over ‘neutral’ Russians The court said it had “sufficient evidence” to conclude beyond reasonable doubt that there had been a “pattern” of violations, amid a “crackdown” on political opposition. The annexation of Crimea largely coincided with the outbreak of fighting between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces in the Donbas region. The conflict escalated following the full Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.