Seoul plans to hold consultations with Kyiv regarding the transfer of captured North Korean soldiers if they request defection, Yonhap reported on Jan. 14, citing South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lee Jae-woong.
Ukrainian forces fighting in Russia's Kursk Oblast captured two North Korean soldiers, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Jan. 11, "irrefutable evidence" of Pyongyang's involvement in Moscow's full-scale invasion. "This task was not easy," Zelensky said, claiming that North Korean military personnel usually "finish off their wounded" in order to hide
"We will see if the Russian side keeps its word. If they do, Ukrainian society will notice the systematic nature in terms of quantity, timing, and categories [of prisoners returning home]," Ukraine's ombudsman said.
Over the past year, Ukraine conducted 11 prisoner exchanges and secured the return of 356 more people than in 2023.
The man, who identifies himself as 32-year-old Australian citizen Oscar Jenkins, is seen in military fatigues, apparently tied up, and violently interrogated in a video shared on Russian Telegram channels.
Warning: This article contains descriptions of graphic scenes. For a moment, Oksana Latanska could not believe her eyes when she looked down at a cold, little body, gray from dust and ashes. It hardly resembled the little boy that she knew so well and whom she saw almost every weekend
“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.
Russia has transferred the bodies of Ukrainian prisoners of war (POW) who died in a plane crash over Russia’s Belgorod Oblast in January, Russian Ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova claimed in an interview with state-run RIA Novosti published on Dec. 9.
Four unarmed Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) were apparently shot and killed by Russian forces in Donetsk Oblast earlier this November, adding to the five previously reported executions of Ukrainian soldiers, the Prosecutor General's Office said on Nov. 28.
The Security Service of Ukraine has launched an investigation into the killing of Ukrainian soldiers near Vuhledar, from which Ukrainian forces withdrew on Oct. 2.
Russian troops shoot six captured Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers in the Pokrovsk sector of the front line in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office reported on Nov. 5.
Warning: This article contains graphic photos and descriptions of graphic scenes. A decomposed human hand with the remains of flesh, bleak and brown save for one splash of color — two thin blue-yellow rubber bracelets. The colors of the Ukrainian national flag. The hand was from a body of the hundreds
Russian soldiers executed two captured Ukrainian soldiers near Selydove in Donetsk Oblast, the Donetsk regional prosecutor's office reported on Oct.21.
"Yesterday morning, after the inspection, they told me that I was leaving in half an hour, but they didn't tell me where. ... We found out about the exchange by accident on the way."
The returned prisoners also reportedly included some mobilized Russian fighters and contract soldiers, including kadyrovtsy, the notoriously ruthless troops named for Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov.
Ukraine and Russia on Oct. 18 conducted their 58th prisoner exchange, involving 190 prisoners of war, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced.
Key developments on Oct. 4: * Oil depots on fire in Russia's Voronezh Oblast, Perm Krai * Russian forces less than 7 km away from Pokrovsk, authorities say * At least 177 Ukrainian POWs have died in Russian captivity, Kyiv says * EU readies to sanction Iran over missile shipments to Russia, Bloomberg reports
Yurii Belousov, the head of the department focused on war-related crimes, explained that 80% of these cases were recorded in 2024, but the trend appeared already late last year.
This article contains descriptions of physical and sexual violence, which may be disturbing to some readers. Reader discretion is advised. Forced nudity during “welcome beatings,” naked “crouch walking,” and gratuitous stripping and body cavity searches are but a few examples of the abuse Viktor Lakhno, 26, a former prisoner of
Last week, Ukraine’s Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets announced that Russian prisoners of war (POWs) would no longer be able to make phone calls to relatives. They are still allowed to communicate through letters, meeting Geneva Convention requirements, he noted. The decision came after recent increases in reports of violations of
Russian authorities detained two Colombian nationals who fought for Ukraine, Russia's Security Service (FSB) said on Aug. 30. The two Colombian men were extradited from Venezuela after being detained by Venezuelan authorities during a layover in Caracas, on-route back home to Colombia.
Halfway down a narrow corridor painted all in gray, the guard wrestles with a bulky lock to gain entry to the prison cell. Inside are around twenty young men, sitting on a criss-crossing pattern of metal bunk beds. In the corner of the room, plastic cups and books are stacked
The seizure of the penal colony will be an important step in documenting war crimes committed by Russia against prisoners of war, Media Initiative for Human Rights reported on Aug. 23.
The Russian Prosecutor's Office claimed that all the prisoners expressed "negative attitudes toward the Russian-speaking population" and supported "pro-Ukrainian radical views."
The head of mission for the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, Danielle Bell, reported that Ukrainian prisoners of war held in Russia and occupied Ukrainian territories are systematically subjected to torture.
Ishchenko was 55-years-old and a native of Mariupol, Ukrainska Pravda reported. He joined the Azov Brigade as a driver shortly after the launch of Russia's full-scale invasion and was captured in Mariupol in 2022.
The Prosecutor General's Office said the investigation involved statements from 20 victims and 30 eyewitnesses, as well as forensic evidence of those killed. The two unnamed Russian commanders have been charged in absentia with violating the laws of war.
Two years after an explosion killed at least 54 Ukrainian prisoners of war and injured over 150 more at a penal colony in Russian-occupied Olenivka, Donetsk Oblast on July 28-29, 2022, no one has been held accountable as Russia continues to block investigation efforts.
Another 95 Ukrainian defenders have been brought back home, including service members of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, and the Border Guard, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on July 17.
Ukraine lists 42,000 citizens in a unified register for persons missing under special circumstances, an Interior Ministry official said, Ukrinform reported on July 17.
Ukrainian soldiers have said that Russia often fails to evacuate injured troops and at times sends its own wounded soldiers back to the battlefield.
The released captives include 32 personnel of the National Guard, including those who defended the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, 18 border guards, 17 personnel of the Navy, 15 soldiers of the Armed Forces as well as eight of the territorial defense, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War reported.
