On April 11, four Ukrainian prisoners of war were shot dead by Russian military personnel near the settlement of Veterinarne in the Kharkiv region, according to the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.
The investigation revealed that the Russian forces, in blatant violation of international humanitarian law, captured the soldiers from a mechanized brigade and subsequently executed them using automatic weapons.
The Kharkiv regional prosecutor’s office has initiated a pre-trial investigation under Article 438, Part 2 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code, which addresses the cruel treatment of prisoners of war resulting in death.
In May 2025, the Prosecutor General’s Office reported that since the onset of the full-scale invasion, there have been 75 criminal proceedings opened concerning the killings of 268 prisoners by Russian military forces.
The United Nations Human Rights Office has documented credible evidence of the execution of at least 35 Ukrainian POWs, as noted in a report released on June 30.
Reports of killings, torture, and mistreatment of Ukrainian prisoners have been frequent. In October 2024, the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) indicated a rising trend in the executions of Ukrainian POWs by Russian forces, suggesting that Russian commanders are likely either condoning, encouraging, or directly ordering these executions.
Recent investigations have confirmed the execution of four Ukrainian POWs by Russian forces in Kharkiv, highlighting ongoing violations of international humanitarian law. This incident adds to a troubling pattern of reported atrocities against Ukrainian prisoners since the start of the conflict.