“The day before, the Ukrainian analytical project Deepstate reported that the Russian military in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation shot dead nine Ukrainians who had surrendered as prisoners.”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
“The largest one-time shooting of Ukrainian prisoners of war happened on October 1, when Russian troops shot 16 Ukrainian prisoners of war in the Pokrovsky direction. ISW continues to monitor footage and reports of Russian servicemen executing Ukrainian POWs, and observes a broader trend of Russian brutality against Ukrainian POWs across the front that appears to be condoned, if not outright approved, by individual Russian commanders,” it said. in the message.
Analysts also note that Russian military bloggers “mostly glorify” the execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war.
“Russian bloggers have frequently glorified Russian atrocities and brutality in Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion, and this glorification highlights a broader culture that likely encourages the systematic execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war,” the report’s authors say.
The day before, the Ukrainian analytical project Deepstate reported that the Russian military in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation shot dead nine Ukrainians who had surrendered. According to analysts, it happened on October 10 near the village of Zeleny Shlyah. Ukrainian soldiers reportedly surrendered after running out of ammunition.
“The photo of the consequences of the execution shows that the Russian troops disarmed, lined up, stripped and shot the Ukrainian prisoners of war, which is a clear indication of the deliberate nature of the executions,” ISW said.
The Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Dmytro Lubinets, called the actions of the Russian military a gross violation of the Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War. He appealed to the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross to investigate what happened.
“Russia is a terrorist country that violates all the rules and customs of war. The international community should not turn a blind eye to such crimes,” Lubinets wrote in a telegram.
According to international humanitarian law, the shooting of surrendering soldiers is a war crime.
The Russian side did not comment on the news about the execution of the prisoners.
The Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine has started criminal proceedings.
“The killing of prisoners of war is a gross violation of the Geneva Conventions and an international crime. An investigation has been launched into a violation of the laws and customs of war, combined with intentional murder. We are doing everything to identify and punish all the perpetrators of the crimes committed by the aggressor country against Ukraine and Ukrainians,” said Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin.
Reports of murders, torture and ill-treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war are regularly reported. On October 2, the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office began an investigation into the killing of 16 Ukrainian prisoners by Russian soldiers in the Donetsk region.
In general, Ukrainian law enforcement agencies have information about the killing of at least 93 Ukrainian prisoners of war by Russian soldiers, Yurii Belousov, head of the Department for Combating Crimes Committed in Armed Conflict, reported on October 4.
According to him, 80% of cases of executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war were recorded in 2024, but the trend began to appear in November 2023, when “changes took place in the attitude of Russian servicemen towards our prisoners of war for the worse.”