More than 75,000 cases of war crimes in Ukraine have emerged since the start of the war, prosecutor general Andriy Kostin has told US legislators.

Speaking to the House Foreign Affairs Committee today, Mr Kostin said Russian forces have used rape, torture and kidnapping to “sow fear and terror” among civilians.

He described the discoveries made in the southern city of Kherson, which was captured by Moscow’s troops early in the war but came back under Kyiv’s control in November.

Around 20 torture chambers were found there, he said, and more than 1,000 people detailed the horrific abuse they faced – including the use of electric shocks, waterboarding and death threats.

“In Kherson, as in other cities, sexual violence was also used as a political and military tactic by Russian forces,” Mr Kostin told the committee.

“This was done in order to humiliate and break the resistance of the civilian population. We have documented more than 60 cases of rape in the region.”

Mr Kostin said another “systematic and widespread crime” Ukrainian officials discovered is “enforced disappearances”.

“Currently, more than 600 people whose whereabouts are unknown have been recorded in Kherson alone,” he said.

In areas still controlled by Russian forces, residents, including children, are being forcefully relocated to other occupied territories or to Russia, he added.

“Such evil cannot go unpunished.”

Committee chairman Michael McCaul said shining a spotlight on the brutality shown by Russian troops will show legislators and voters why the US is right in its support of Ukraine.

“This is happening right now. They are monsters and they need to be brought to justice,” Mr McCaul said.