Ukraine investigates Russia’s killing of over 120 POWs - Prosecutor General’s Office
Photo: Ukraine is investigating the killings of more than 120 prisoners of war (Getty Images)
Law enforcement is investigating 49 criminal cases concerning the killing of Ukrainian POWs on the battlefield. So far, more than 120 defenders are known to have been killed, according to the Office of the Prosecutor General.
Denys Lysenko, head of the Department for Countering Crimes Committed in Armed Conflict at the Office of the Prosecutor General, stated that the rapid increase in cases of killing Ukrainian defenders while surrendering began at the end of last year and reached unprecedented levels this year.
According to him, the highest number of cases has been recorded in the Donetsk region.
"Yesterday, two more incidents of Ukrainian POWs being killed during surrender were registered in Donetsk region. These events occurred on October 23 in the eastern part of the town of Selydove, where three POWs were killed, and on November 1 near the village of Vyshneve in the Selydove territorial community, where three more POWs were shot by the occupiers," Lysenko reported.
He noted that the Office of the Prosecutor General is currently analyzing all these cases and looking for patterns and correlations.
"We are now initiating criminal cases against representatives of the higher command of the Russian Armed Forces who may be involved in organizing these crimes or failing to take measures to prevent them and punish the perpetrators. Therefore, we consider all these cases comprehensively, and the involvement of any specific armed unit is, of course, analyzed in each case. However, this does not waive responsibility from commanders," Lysenko emphasized.
Russian forces kill POWs
It was also reported yesterday that Russian soldiers executed six Ukrainian soldiers in the Pokrovsk direction.
Moreover, law enforcement is investigating the execution of 16 Ukrainian soldiers in the Pokrovsk direction by Russian forces. This incident is noted as the most massive killing of Ukrainian military prisoners since the start of the war.
