Russia executes five Ukrainian POWs near Zelenyi Hai in Zaporizhzhia Oblast
Russian forces have shot and killed five Ukrainian soldiers taken prisoner near the settlement of Zelenyi Hai in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, DeepState, a Ukrainian group of military analysts reported.
“West of Zelenyi Hai, the enemy has killed five prisoners of war from Ukraine’s defense forces. The enemy continues to trample on all norms of international law […],” the DeepState statement reads.
It said that the Russians captured the Ukrainian soldiers in a forested area, forced them to lie in a row, and executed them after interrogating them.
The analysts did not specify when the incident occurred.
To provide background, on 19 November 2025, Russians executed five Ukrainian POWs in the Pokrovsk District, Donetsk Oblast.
On July 24, the OSCE invoked the Moscow Mechanism after 41 participating states, in consultation with Ukraine, requested that the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights examine the treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war by Russia. Ukraine established a mission of three experts on August 15 to investigate possible violations of OSCE commitments, international humanitarian law, and international human rights law.
The OSCE mission found that Russia systematically denies Ukrainian combatants prisoner of war status, subjects them to widespread torture and ill-treatment, including severe beatings, electric shocks, sexual violence, and mock executions, and conducts arbitrary killings and executions both on the battlefield and in detention.
Russian officials’ public statements declaring “no quarter will be given” encourage summary executions. Detention conditions fall below international standards, with overcrowding, inadequate food and medical care, and forced labor. POWs are denied fair trial guarantees through coerced confessions and unfair proceedings, while family communication and International Committee of the Red Cross access remain severely restricted. The mission concluded these violations constitute war crimes and, in some cases, arguably crimes against humanity.
At least 13,500 members of the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been detained by Russia since February 2022. Approximately 169 have died in captivity, nearly 6,800 have been released, and an estimated 6,300 remain in detention across multiple sites in Russia and temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories.
