Russian troops execute two Ukrainian POWs in Donetsk region

The Office of the Prosecutor General reports.

According to preliminary reports, on the morning of May 22, 2025, Russia launched an assault on the positions of Ukraine’s Defense Forces near the village of Udachne in the Pokrovsk district, where four Ukrainian servicemen were carrying out combat missions. 

"During the attack, representatives of the aggressor state captured two defenders and later executed them unarmed in a forest strip using automatic weapons," the Prosecutor General’s Office stated. The fate of the other two servicemen remains unknown.

Under the procedural guidance of the Donetsk Regional Prosecutor’s Office, a pre-trial investigation has been launched into a war crime that resulted in the deaths of individuals (Part 2, Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

The deliberate killing of prisoners of war is a grave violation of the Geneva Conventions and qualifies as a serious international crime.

Urgent investigative actions are currently underway to establish the full circumstances of the incident and identify those responsible.

• A radio intercept obtained by CNN indicates that Russian superiors give orders to execute Ukrainian soldiers who had surrendered.