On 26 March 2026 in Geneva, Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, will present a report on forcible transfers and deportations from Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine to the UN Human Rights Council.
The presentation of the report and the discussion can be followed online on the UN Web TV. The discussion begins on 26 March at 12:45 Latvian time.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, Kęstutis Budrys, will deliver a statement on behalf of the Baltic and Nordic countries during the discussion.
In the report, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights concludes:
- The occupying authorities have forcibly transferred or deported from the occupied territory individuals who objected to and refused to submit to Russian occupation, including local officials, law enforcement personnel, teachers and school personnel, emergency workers, medical personnel, religious leaders, and employees of critical infrastructure facilities.
- Similarly, people were forced to flee the occupied territory for various reasons:
- Pressure from the occupying authorities on civil servants, local officials, and employees of State enterprises to adopt and implement Russian legislation and administrative systems, as well as to sign contracts with Russian institutions; in cases of non-compliance – threats, intimidation, and detention, as well as enforced disappearances, torture, and deportation; 21,188 education personnel, 13,774 medical personnel, and 6,500 people working for local government have left the occupied territories, including 5,318 employees of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
- Compulsory change of citizenship: without a Russian passport, access to services is denied and rights are restricted, including healthcare, pensions, social security, employment opportunities, property ownership, and freedom of movement.
- Fear of conscription into the Russian armed forces and deployment to fight against Ukraine: thousands of residents of the occupied territories have been illegally conscripted into the Russian armed forces.
- Fear of persecution for expressing opinions critical of the war or occupation: at least 12 people have been issued criminal convictions, and 1,876 administrative fines.
- The Ukrainian curriculum in schools has been replaced by Russian educational programmes: the Ukrainian language, textbooks, and literature have been replaced by classes taught in the Russian language, Russian narratives justifying the war against Ukraine and glorifying Russian soldiers, patriotic rituals and military-patriotic programs, as well as cadet training; these practices are implemented from an early age, including through extracurricular activities.
- The eradication of Ukrainian cultural identity, including in private and family life, and the risk of being held accountable for “extremism” for any expression of Ukrainian identity.
- Significant restrictions on the ability of members of certain religious groups to exercise their right to religious freedom.
- Systematic repression of LGBTIQ+ people and the prohibition of LGBTIQ+ organizations.
Obstacles to returning to the occupied territory of Ukraine:
- An airport in Moscow as the sole available entry point for Ukrainian citizens into the occupied territories and the “filtration” process conducted there.
- Entry denials by Russian authorities and the imposition of long-term entry bans ranging from 20 to 50 years.
- Confiscated property transferred to municipal ownership or to new residents: more than 38,000 apartments and houses have been designated as “potentially abandoned,” including more than 23,000 in the Donetsk region and more than 13,700 in Mariupol. At least 6,156 properties have been registered as “abandoned,” over 80% in Mariupol.
Since 2014, at the request of the Ukrainian government and in view of the rapidly deteriorating human rights situation in Crimea and other parts of Ukraine, a UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission has been deployed to Ukraine.
Since the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine on 24 February 2022, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission has been monitoring the impact of Russia’s war on human rights throughout Ukraine, as well as remotely in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine to which it has no access.