Ukraine calls for international action as new evidence shows Russians executing surrendered soldiers

Russian forces have executed a wounded Ukrainian soldier on the Bakhmut front, prompting an investigation by Ukrainian law enforcement, the Office of the Prosecutor General reports.

Initial findings indicate that the Ukrainian service member sustained injuries during a combat mission in the Bakhmut district. After Russian forces captured the building where he was positioned, they took him prisoner and shot him while he lay unarmed on the ground. The incident occurred around 10:00 on September 6, 2024, near the Phenol Plant in New York village.

The Prosecutor’s Office emphasised that executing prisoners of war violates the Geneva Conventions and constitutes a serious international crime. The Donetsk Oblast Prosecutor’s Office has launched a pre-trial investigation into this war crimes case.

On October 10, 2024, Russians executed nine Ukrainian prisoners of war near the village of Zelenyy Shlyakh, in Kurs’k Oblast.

According to the DeepState military analyst group, Ukrainian troops advanced to what they believed was a relatively safe area before encountering Russian forces. They returned fire but ultimately surrendered due to a shortage of ammunition.

Ukrainian officials are now urging immediate international intervention over Russia’s treatment of POWs.

Ukrainian Human Rights Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets condemned the executions as a grave violation of the Geneva Convention. He has notified the United Nations (UN) and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Lubinets previously harshly criticised the ICRC for failing to fulfil its mandate and called for establishing a new, effective replacement organization.

Ukrainian Human Rights Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets

According to Lubinets, Ukrainian law enforcement is already aware of over a hundred cases of Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered being executed by Russian military.

“These actions must not go unpunished, and the enemy must be held fully accountable. Russia is a terrorist state that violates all the rules and customs of war. The international community must not turn a blind eye to such crimes!” Dmytro Lubinets said.

In an interview with Belgian media outlet La Libre, Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin revealed an increase in Russian executions of Ukrainian POWs in 2024. He highlighted that torture and summary executions are used by Russians as a weapon of war and intimidation.

Kostin also emphasised these are not isolated incidents but represent systematic policy. He cited an audio recording of a Russian officer ordering troops to kill Ukrainian soldiers rather than take prisoners on the battlefield.

The prosecutor general added that one of the key tasks for the judiciary is to hold Russia and its leadership accountable for the crime of aggression, without which more than 140,000 war crimes would not have been committed.

“Investigating war crimes during the conflict is, of course, extremely difficult. We document, investigate and prosecute every crime committed by the aggressor in national courts. But our task goes much further. We are implementing a methodology for prosecuting more specific crimes, such as sexual violence, crimes against children and environmental crimes. It is important to bring to justice the masterminds of this invasion – the president, the prime minister, key military officials – and show them that they can be held accountable, despite the gaps in international law,” Kostin explained.

While acknowledging that the International Criminal Court lacks jurisdiction in this matter, he noted that Ukraine is developing a legal framework with approximately 40 nations.

Andrii Sybiha, Foreign Minister of Ukraine, also pointed out that executions are becoming more frequent; 95% of POWs are subjected to torture according to the UN, denied basic needs and access.

Earlier, the UN High Commission for Human Rights issued its 40th periodic report. According to the report, the testimonies of released Ukrainian POW, provided during interviews with the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, once again confirm the widespread use of torture by the Russian authorities in places of detention. This includes systematic beatings, sexual violence, the use of electric shock devices, and other forms of cruel treatment.

Read also: More men than women applied for compensation after experiencing sexual violence during the war

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) continues to track Russian executions of Ukrainian POWs. ISW analysts also have identified “a wider trend of Russian abuses against Ukrainian POWs across various sectors of the front that appear to be enabled, if not explicitly endorsed, by individual Russian commanders.”

Russian military bloggers have openly celebrated these executions, normalizing war crimes within the Russian ultranationalist community.

“Many Russian milbloggers not only justified but celebrated the Russian execution of the POWs in Kurs’k Oblast by claiming that the executions were deserved or that such executions are a common aspect of war,” the ISW analysts wrote. 

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry has urged the international community to maintain pressure on Russia for unrestricted access to Ukrainian POWs and civilians by human rights and humanitarian organizations.

To provide background, on October 1, 2024, Russians have shot 16 Ukrainian prisoners of war dead near the villages of Mykolaivka and Sukhyi Yar, Pokrovsk district, Donetsk Oblast, – marking the largest known execution of Ukrainian POWs on the battlefield.