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The original was posted on /r/ukrainewarvideoreport by /u/Khabooem on 2024-10-07 08:34:22+00:00.
Steep rise in Russian executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war
Executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war by Vladimir Putin’s forces have surged this year, with a top Kyiv official warning it could indicate a shift in Russian policy.
Some 80 per cent of the 93 prisoner executions recorded since the start of the war took place this year, Yuriy Belousov, the head of the prosecutor-general’s office, revealed on local TV.
Gruesome videos and photos that appear to show the killings are often circulated by war bloggers and Telegram accounts, becoming vital evidence for Ukraine’s investigations.
In a video circulated last week, a shirtless man kneels in a grave while being pushed around by a figure wearing a Russian military uniform with Wagner PMC patches.
A knife is pointed at his throat and he is forced to say: “Thank you, Uncle Zhenya Prigozhin, for raising such guys.” Prigozhin was the head of Russia’s infamous state-funded private military company Wagner, who died in a plane crash last year.
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A second clip appears to show the back of the same man, shirtless and in army-green shorts, in a field. The person filming declares the man is “sentenced to death” in the name of the Russian Federation, before two people open fire.
The Telegraph has not been able to independently verify the videos but Ukrainian authorities said they were investigating.
Last week, the prosecutor-general’s office announced it had opened an investigation into the “largest mass execution” since the start of the war, after 16 Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed in Donetsk.
Unverified videos appear to show captured Ukrainian soldiers emerging from a forested area and lining up, before Russian forces open fire. Russian soldiers then approach the wounded and shoot them again at close range.
‘Not isolated incidents’
Mr Belousov previously said it was hard to view the killings as isolated incidents because they had been carried out by different units and in different regions.
Instead, he claimed the rise suggested a “change at the policy level, maybe in the instructions the Russian military is receiving”. It could indicate the killings are “part of Russian policy”, he added.
The execution of prisoners of war is illegal under the Geneva Convention, which regulates the conduct of armed conflicts, with both parties obliged to treat captives humanely.
In September, Ukraine appealed to the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations after a photo emerged allegedly showing a prisoner of war who had been executed with a sword by Russian forces.
In the photo, the bloodied body of a Ukrainian soldier lies on the floor with a sword sticking out of his abdomen. The words “for Kursk” are written on the blade.
‘Systematic torture’
The killings highlight the grim reality for Ukrainians in Russian captivity, as the United Nations warned of the “widespread and systematic torture” of prisoners of war.
A report released last week by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights detailed the ill-treatment of hundreds of Ukrainian prisoners of war, and said there were indications detention facility supervisors were aware of the treatment and had the ability to prevent it.
Some public figures in Russia have “explicitly encouraged inhumane treatment, and even killing, of Ukrainian prisoners of war”, the report added.
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Ukraine’s defence ministry said last week that at least 177 Ukrainian prisoners have died in Russian captivity, with thousands of others at risk.
Due to a lack of international oversight and access to Russian detention facilities the real figure could be far higher.
In 2022, an explosion ripped through the Russian-controlled Olenivka prison barracks and killed at least 50 prisoners, many of them from Ukraine’s Azov Regiment.
Regular prison swaps between the two sides have seen the return of more than 3,600 Ukrainian prisoners of war and deported citizens, however thousands are still believed to be in Russian hands.
The Kremlin denies that its forces commit war crimes in Ukraine.
Ukraine has recorded executions in the Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.
