2 Ukrainian POWs allegedly killed by Russian forces in Kursk Oblast, Prosecutor General's Office reports

Russian forces allegedly killed two captured Ukrainian servicemen in Russia's embattled Kursk Oblast, the Prosecutor General's Office reported on Nov. 11.

Reports of murders, torture, and ill-treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war are received regularly by Ukrainian authorities and have spiked in recent months. Most cases were recorded in embattled Donetsk Oblast.

A footage purporting to show Russian soldiers shooting two unarmed Ukrainian servicemen in Kursk Oblast was spotted on social media earlier in the day, the prosecutors said. It is unknown when the video was filmed.

The Prosecutor General's Office has opened a pre-trial investigation into the incident.

Videos and photos have documented potential war crimes, including drone footage showing the shooting of the prisoners of war (POWs) as they surrendered to Russian troops.

Other videos and photos point to torture and violent death in Russian captivity.

Russian forces have executed at least 124 Ukrainian prisoners of war since 2022 as of Nov. 6, the Prosecutor General's Office said.

Former Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin called the killing of Ukrainian servicemen in captivity a "deliberate policy" of Russia.

Some 80% of the cases of executions of Ukrainian POWs were recorded in 2024, but the trend began to appear in November 2023, when "there were changes in the attitude of Russian military personnel towards our prisoners of war for the worse," said Yurii Belousov, a senior representative of the Prosecutor General's Office.

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The Kyiv IndependentKamila Hrabchuk