The military attack by the Russian Federation in Ukraine which began on 24 February 2022 and the resulting international armed conflict has continued to have devastating and widespread impacts on the civilian population and has led to extensive credible accounts of international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law (IHRL) violations.
In line with its monitoring mandate, ODIHR launched the Ukraine Monitoring Initiative immediately following the start of the attack to monitor and document the most serious violations of IHL and IHRL affecting the lives of civilians and prisoners of war (POWs), and it has continued to do so since the launch of its First Interim Report in July 2022.