Ombudsman asks UN, Red Cross to investigate videos of alleged abuses of Ukrainian POWs

Ukraine’s Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets has appealed to the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to investigate videos showing beatings, humiliation, and threats of Ukrainian prisoners of war by Russian soldiers reportedly in the Kharkiv direction.

The videos which are spreading on social media show actions that violate the Geneva Conventions and should be used as further proof of Russian violations of international humanitarian law, Lubinets said in his Telegram post on June 2.

The Geneva Conventions require the humane treatment of prisoners of war.

"Unfortunately, such treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war is not an exception to the rules, but a common tactic for the occupiers," Lubinets wrote.

Lubinets has previously appealed to the UN and the ICRC to investigate other crimes committed against Ukrainian prisoners of war, including the execution of at least five POWs in Avdiivka in February.

As of March 2024, Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office collected pretrial information on over 128,000 victims of war crimes.

Prosecutor General’s Office: Over 128,000 victims of war crimes recorded in Ukraine

Ukraine has collected pretrial information on over 128,000 victims of war crimes, Veronika Plotnikova, the head of the Coordinating Center for Support of Victims and Witnesses of the Prosecutor Generals Office, said on air on March 18.

The Kyiv IndependentElsa Court