Russia killed at least 273 Ukrainian POWs during full-scale war, prosecutors say
Ukrainian prosecutors have documented cases of Russian forces summarily executing 273 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs), the Liga.net news outlet reported, citing a statement from the Prosecutor General's Office.
Kyiv and the U.N. have raised alarm over the rising number of such cases, saying they point to a systematic policy by Russia to murder Ukrainian captives. Half of the document cases were recorded this year alone.
Seventy-seven criminal cases have been launched in connection with the killings of POWs, while only two people were convicted, and a trial against a third person is ongoing. The statement did not clarify whether the convictions were issued in absentia.
A total of 188 people have been convicted of various war crimes, including 18 captured Russian soldiers and one civilian, who were convicted in person. The rest were convicted in absentia.
Earlier this week, Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets reported a case of the likely murder of a Ukrainian POW who was apparently tied to a motorcycle by Russian soldiers and dragged along the road.
Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR) said in May that it alone had documented more than 150 cases of Ukrainian soldiers being executed after surrendering to Russian forces. Multiple intelligence reports suggest that Russian soldiers have received explicit orders to kill prisoners of war.
The United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine confirmed in March growing numbers of incidents in which Russian forces killed or maimed surrendering Ukrainian troops.
A separate Ukrainian investigation is also underway into the killing of around 50 Ukrainian POWs in the Russian-run Olenivka prison in 2022. Kyiv blamed the killings on Russia, saying Moscow's forces deliberately put Azov fighters in a separate building that was later destroyed.
Russia denied responsibility, claiming the explosion was caused by a Ukrainian HIMARS strike—a version U.N. investigators have rejected.
Although Moscow blocked an independent investigation by denying U.N. monitors access, Lubinets recently said that an internal U.N. analysis concluded Russia was to blame.
