Russian attacks on civilians in Ukraine were today officially declared war crimes in a devastating international report ordered by 45 countries.
Vladimir Putin's forces' attack that killed 300 people sheltering in the Mariupol Theatre was “most likely… an egregious violation” of humanitarian law and “those who ordered or executed it committed a war crime”, the report said.
It also dismissed Russia 's claims that its attack on a maternity hospital in Mariupol last month was “fake news”, saying the attack “must have been deliberate”.
It added: “This attack therefore constitutes a clear violation of international humanitarian law and those responsible for it have committed a war crime”.
The Organisation for Security and Cooperation and Europe (OSCE) interim report ran to nearly 100 pages and said Russian forces have intentionally targeted healthcare sites.
The report only covers the conflict up to April 1, which means atrocities uncovered as Russian forces pulled back from Kyiv in recent weeks have not yet been fully analyse.
Grim evidence of the killing of civilians in Bucha shocked the world, as well as the recent rocket attack on a train station in Kramatorsk where people were trying to flee.
There were “several credible reports” of Russian forces “arresting civilians, including journalists, without any procedure, and ill-treating them by methods that amount to torture. This constitutes a war crime,” the report said.
The report noted there have been “allegations of rapes, including gang rapes, committed by Russian soldiers in many other regions in Ukraine ".
And it said: “Russia is failing to agree to evacuations or is violating such agreements through attacks on those trying to leave.
“Intentionally using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare by depriving them of objects indispensable to their survival… constitutes a war crime.”
The report concludes: “Violations occurred on the Ukrainian as well as on the Russian side.
"The violations committed by the Russian Federation, however, are by far larger in scale and nature.”
Western officials said it was the first independent report into the atrocities committed in Ukraine - and there would be more to come.
They pointed to "clear patterns" of human rights violations by Russian forces, and said there was evidence of use of human shields and "double tap" attacks - where forces target a site and then again when the emergency services arrive to cause maximum devastation.
Neil Bush, head of the UK's delegation to the OSCE, said: "This report is just the first of likely many.
"We must, as an international community, hold accountable those responsible for the atrocities that have been committed in Ukraine, including military commanders and other individuals in the Putin regime.
"Soldiers and commanders who issue or follow illegal orders need to understand that their actions will be documented, and they will be held to account. Justice will be served."
