Russian forces executed over 150 POWs from Ukraine intelligence units as part of systematic policy

Ukrainian military intelligence documented more than 150 cases of captured Ukrainian soldiers of their special units being executed by Russian forces.

The documented cases include direct orders to kill prisoners rather than take them captive, according to the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

Officials characterize these incidents as part of a systematic policy directed by Russian state leadership. The intelligence agency transferred all collected evidence of these alleged war crimes to Ukrainian law enforcement for investigation.

International observers have corroborated these findings. The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine reported on 19 March 2025, that incidents of Russian military personnel deliberately killing or harming Ukrainian fighters attempting to surrender have increased in frequency.

The UN commission cited testimony from Russian deserters who confirmed receiving explicit orders against taking prisoners.

“Prisoners are not needed – shoot them on the spot,” one deserter quoted a deputy brigade commander as saying.

Dr. Morris Tidball-Binz, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, told CNN that the scale and frequency of these incidents suggests high-level authorization.

“They would not be happening with such quantity and frequency without an order – or at least consent – from the highest military command, which in Russia means the position of president,” Tidball-Binz stated.

CNN also obtained intercepted Russian radio transmissions and drone footage that reportedly show Russian soldiers executing surrendering Ukrainian troops in Zaporizhzhia Oblast in November 2024, with audio indicating a Russian commander issued kill orders six times over 26 minutes. 

Ukraine’s Security Service identified the Russian Shtorm unit as responsible for the killings. The motives are believed to include avoiding the logistical burden of POWs and spreading terror.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) concluded that prominent Russian military bloggers openly praise and justify the executions of Ukrainian POWs, publicly glorifying brutality and systemic violations of the Geneva Convention. The widespread endorsement of these atrocities risk encouraging further war crimes and deepening the culture of impunity within Russian forces.

The most recent documented incident occurred on 22 May near the village of Udachne in Pokrovsk district, where two Ukrainian soldiers were reportedly captured and subsequently shot during a Russian assault on Ukrainian defensive positions.

Earlier, a captured Russian marine from the 155th Marine Brigade, Yuriy Pitkevich, revealed to Ukrainian forces that Russian commanders ordered the execution and beheading of Ukrainian prisoners of war near Glushkovo in September 2024, providing the names of those responsible.