Ukrainian prosecutors are investigating a case of Russian troops summarily executing six Ukrainian captives in the embattled Donetsk Oblast, the Prosecutor General’s Office said on Jan. 23.
“It was at the start of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ military operation in Kursk Oblast. I believe the Kursk operation provided strong arguments in favor of Ukraine,” Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said.
"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 Ukrainian prisoners of war are received regularly by Ukrainian authorities.
Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets met with his Russian counterpart, Tatyana Moskalkova, in Belarus on Nov. 8 to discuss humanitarian issues related to Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine.
"The alleged shooting of two women by the occupiers in Selydove is a war crime," Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said. "I immediately sent letters to international organizations: UN and ICRC. I am waiting for a response."
Ukraine's Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets did not specify in his statement whether the lists were provided to Qatar by Moscow or the status of the listed missing soldiers.
According to Dmytro Lubinets, the actual number of such cases is likely much higher since it is difficult to document Russian war crimes without supporting evidence such as videos of the executions.
Russia has already abducted more than 20,000 children since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said.
Kyiv did not conduct a Qatar-brokered "exchange" of children with Moscow, Ukraine's Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said on Sept. 27. Lubinets refuted an AFP report citing an unnamed Qatari official who claimed nine children and one adult had allegedly returned to Ukraine, while four children "will be reunited with their families
On the morning of Sept. 17, a photo of an allegedly executed Ukrainian soldier with a sword in his chest and the inscription "For Kursk" appeared on social media. Remnants of gray tape are visible on the soldier's hand.
Russian prisoners of war (POWs) held in Ukrainian camps are no longer allowed to make phone calls to their relatives, Ukraine's Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets announced on national television on Sept. 7.
The footage purportedly shows a Russian soldier who asks a Ukrainian soldier if he wants to "say the last word, pray before dying," and then shoots him with a rifle three times.
The video surfaced on social media earlier this week. It shows a man in Russian military fatigues with a covered face with what appears to be a severed head placed upon a spike in the background.
The photo, which is circulating on social media, shows the body of a person with his head and limbs cut off. It is unknown when the photo was taken. The Kyiv Independent was unable to verify it.
More than 14,000 Ukrainian civilians are being held in Russian captivity, Ukraine's Chief Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said on June 29.
Ukrainian children are being recruited by Russia to set fire to military cars parked in cities, Ukraine's Human Rights Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said on June 18.
"If the Russians were interested in returning their prisoners of war, we would have done it long ago. It seems that they simply do not need them," Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said on June 15.
Ukraine’s Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said on June 2 that he 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 in the Kharkiv direction.
Argentina has joined the international coalition for the return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia, Ukraine's chief ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, said on May 29.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is "playing along with Russian aggression," Ukraine's Chief Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said on April 27.
Ukraine registers almost 37,000 people who are considered missing, including children, other civilians, and military personnel, Ukraine's Chief Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said on April 16.
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