Ukrainian authorities have accused Russian forces of executing at least 109 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) since the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
According to Yuri Bilousov, Head of the Department of Combating Crimes Committed in Conditions of Armed Conflict under Ukraine’s Prosecutor General, Russian forces have intensified their executions of captured Ukrainian soldiers in 2024.
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The latest investigation comes following reports from the Donetsk Oblast Prosecutor’s Office on November 5 that Russian forces executed six Ukrainian POWs in late October and early November.
The Prosecutor’s Office reported that three of these executions occurred near Selydove in Donetsk Oblast on October 23, with three additional executions in the Pokrovsk direction on November 1.
These new incidents add to an increasing body of evidence documenting alleged war crimes by Russian forces against Ukrainian prisoners.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has also documented numerous reports of Russian servicemembers executing Ukrainian POWs, as well as a broader pattern of abuse across various front-line sectors.
According to ISW, video footage and reports indicate that Russian field commanders appear to overlook or even tacitly endorse these actions, allowing such incidents to continue unpunished.
Ukraine’s investigation aims to further substantiate these reports and bring greater international attention to what Ukrainian authorities describe as a systematic pattern of war crimes committed by Russian forces.
Ukrainian officials are urging global organizations and allied nations to hold Russia accountable for alleged violations of international law and the Geneva Conventions governing the treatment of prisoners of war.
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