NV Exclusive
General Frost no longer neutral: Russia’s winter campaign meets the war crimes test
In 2025, Ukraine recorded the highest number of civilian casualties since the first year of Russia’s full-scale invasion. According to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, the number of civilians killed and wounded in 2025 was 31% higher than in 2024 and 70% higher than in 2023. This is not a statistical anomaly. It is the result of a deliberate method of warfare.
Prosecuting Ukrainian collaborators is complex. Proving voluntariness, distinguishing coercion, and securing reliable testimony are inherently difficult and are further complicated by Russia’s occupation, restricted access to evidence and witnesses in the temporarily occupied territories, and its systematic disregard for the law of occupation, which distorts civilian behaviour and obscures the truth.