Russia killed at least 109 Ukrainian POWs in 2024, ombudsman says

The Russian military summarily executed at least 109 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POW) in 2024, Ukraine’s Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said on national television on Dec. 10.

"In 2024 alone, we can confirm that Russian troops shot 109 Ukrainian prisoners of war," Lubinets said. Reports of murders, torture, and ill-treatment of POWs are received regularly by Ukrainian authorities.

The ombudsman added that 177 cases of POW executions were confirmed "during the previous years of the full-scale war."

It is not immediately clear whether he was referring to the overall figure of 177 captives who died in Russian captivity throughout the all-out war, as revealed by Victoria Tsymbaliuk, a representative of the Ukrainian Coordination Center for the Treatment of POWs, in October.

Nevertheless, the number of POWs killed in 2024 alone underscores an increased frequency of summary executions by the Russian military. This trend coincides with an accelerated pace of the Russian advance in Ukraine.

The figures refer only to officially confirmed cases, meaning the overall numbers may be higher.

"There are Russian representatives who are now cynically and publicly showing the whole world that they do not comply with international humanitarian law, the Geneva Conventions, they abduct children, they commit torture against the civilian population of Ukraine, they kill Ukrainian prisoners of war," Lubinets said.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2023 for the forced deportation of Ukrainian children.

The Hague court also issued arrest warrants for ex-Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the General Staff of the Russian army. Shoigu and Gerasimov are charged with "directing attacks at civilian objects," "causing excessive incidental harm to civilians or damage to civilian objects," and the "crime against humanity of inhumane acts."

"Unfortunately, we do not see an effective reaction from the international community. We are very grateful for the deep concern, but as the war in Ukraine, which has been going on for more than 10 years, three years of full-scale war, shows, words do not stop Russia," Lubinets said.

Ombudsman denies Russian claim that Kyiv is delaying prisoner exchanges

“Ukraine is not delaying and did not delay the exchanges, but on the contrary, declared its readiness to repatriate seriously injured and seriously ill prisoners by creating a mixed medical commission,” Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said.

The Kyiv IndependentKateryna Denisova