The United Nations says it has documented dozens of cases of mass executions of prisoners of war (POW) by both Russian and Ukrainian forces since February 2022, but admits to obtaining information from Russia or territories controlled by Russia are much harder than it is from the Ukrainian authorities.
In a new report, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said it had documented the summary execution of 15 Ukrainian prisoners of war by Russian forces, in addition to using Ukrainian prisoners as human shields, the death of two wounded. POWs due to lack of medical care, as well as torture.
Among the cases recorded in the report was the case where an officer of the Ukrainian National Guard was tortured and then executed after refusing to provide a password to a radio station in Mariupol. in April 2022. In another case, in September, an injured Ukrainian soldier was shot three times in the chest and once in the head after being captured by fighters from the Wagner mercenary group in a village south of Bakhmut.
“Summary executions and attacks against prisoners of Steed are prohibited under international law and, if intentional, constitute a war crime,” the report noted.
The report also highlights the lack of cooperation that UN investigators received from Russia and Russian-occupied agencies, stating that they were unable to access prisoners held by the Russian Federation, despite have requested this many times. It mentions only one occasion, in August, when a UN team was allowed to meet, but not interview, 13 Ukrainian prisoners of war held in Russian-occupied Luhansk.
On the other hand, the report said it documented – through open source information, on-site visits and witness interviews – the summary execution of at least 25 Russian POWs being held by Ukrainian forces.
During an incident in March 2022 in the Luhansk region, a United Nations report showed that several members of armed groups with links to Russia were killed by Ukrainian servicemen after refusing to declare their intentions. intend to surrender. The United Nations report said Russian warplanes, some possibly injured or dead, lay on the ground following an artillery attack.
Contrary to the lack of cooperation from Russian authorities, the report said UN teams had “full and covert access” to Russian POWs held at official Russian sites. Ukraine, “which OHCHR acknowledges with appreciation.”
