Russian forces executed a captured Ukrainian soldier in the Donetsk region
Ukrainian authorities have launched an investigation into the fatal shooting of a captured Ukrainian soldier by Russian forces in the Volnovakha District, the Donetsk Regional Prosecutor’s Office stated.
According to prosecutors, Russian forces attacked Ukrainian military positions near the village of Myrne in the Volnovakha District on July 22, 2026. A Ukrainian soldier was taken prisoner during the fighting and, according to preliminary reports, was subsequently fatally shot by Russian troops.
Law enforcement agencies have opened a criminal investigation into a war crime resulting in death, in accordance with Article 438, Part 2, of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
Investigators are working to establish the circumstances surrounding the prisoner of war’s death and identify those responsible.
Killing prisoners of war violates international humanitarian law and qualifies as a war crime, the prosecutor’s office elaborated.
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In late July, law enforcement in the Donetsk Oblast initiated a criminal investigation into the execution of another Ukrainian prisoner of war by Russian forces. The soldier was captured on July 13 near the village of Yalta in the Komar rural community, on the left bank of the Vovcha River.
Earlier, ZMINA reported that since August 2024, reports of executions of Ukrainian fighters by Russians have significantly increased; some of those guilty of such crimes are being tried in Ukraine, and this is happening not only in absentia.
On July 24, 2025, 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.
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The OSCE mission found that Russia systematically denies prisoner of war status to Ukrainian combatants, 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 captured 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.
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