Ukraine’s Office of the Prosecutor General has launched a pre-trial investigation into a war crime committed by Russian forces in the Pokrovsk sector, Donetsk Oblast, where 16 Ukrainian prisoners of war were allegedly executed.
On 1 October 2024, the video evidence of the summary execution of Ukrainian POWs emerged on a Ukrainian Telegram Channel, Matt SF. The channel stated the video was filmed by another Ukrainian unit from a drone. A subsequent radio interception reportedly provided more details on this war crime, which stated that the Russian troops executed 16 Ukrainian POWs near the villages of Mykolaivka and Sukhyi Yar in the Pokrovsk district.
The video shows captured Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemen coming out of a forest under Russian control. After lining up, the Russian troops deliberately opened fire on them. Those wounded who showed signs of life were reportedly killed at close range with automatic weapons.
Execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war by Russians. Pokrovsky Front, 30 of September 2024. https://t.co/9gTxvCzRjN pic.twitter.com/Fb2X8ikjtg
— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) October 1, 2024
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Andrii Kostin stated,
“This is the largest known case of execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war on the front line. And this is another evidence that the killing and torture of prisoners is not an accident, but a deliberate policy of the Russian military and political leadership.”
The Donetsk Regional Prosecutor’s Office has initiated a pre-trial investigation into the violation of the laws and customs of war combined with premeditated murder, as per Part 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
The Office of the Prosecutor General emphasized that such actions constitute a cynical and gross violation of the Geneva Conventions and qualify as a serious international crime. Measures are currently being taken to verify the published materials, and investigative actions have been initiated to establish all the circumstances of the crime.
On 24 September, an independent UN international commission of inquiry into violations in Ukraine found new evidence of widespread practice of mass torture of Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war by the Russians, both in temporarily occupied territories and within Russia’s territory.
Related:
- Ukraine restricts Russian POWs’ phone privileges in response to executions of Ukrainians
- This winter, 32 Ukrainian POWs were executed by Russian forces, UN report reveals
- Russians escalate executions of Ukrainian POWs
- Starvation, beatings, nails ripped out: Russia systematically tortures Ukrainian POWs till death
- This winter, 32 Ukrainian POWs were executed by Russian forces, UN report reveals
- “Welcome to hell”: UN report exposes Russia’s systematic torture, killings, and crimes against humanity in Ukraine
- “Russians tortured us so badly we thought we wouldn’t make it out alive,” civilian survivors say
