UN-backed human rights experts decry new evidence of torture of Ukrainian POWs by Russia

By JAMEY KEATEN
Associated Press

GENEVA (AP) — U.N.-backed human rights experts say they have gathered new evidence of “horrific” torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war by their Russian jailers, saying such practices could amount to war crimes. The Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine said in a report Friday that human rights violations have been widespread since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade the country more than two years ago, and that civilian suffering from the war continues to mount. It said Russian forces regularly showed little regard for possible harm to civilians in their military operations, and cited incidents of rape and sexual violence against women as amounting to torture.