Ukraine opens 19 criminal cases over Russia's executions of 45 Ukrainian POWs

Head of the Department for Combating Crimes Committed in the Context of Armed Conflict of the Prosecutor General's Office Yuriy Belousov said this, Ukrinform reports.

"We have 19 investigations into the killing of 45 of our prisoners of war since the start of the full-scale invasion," he said.

Belousov added that the Russian forces carried out most executions of prisoners of war in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions. According to him, since November 2023, the number of executions of captured Ukrainian servicemen has increased.

"In fact, every month we have several cases of executions of prisoners of war during the battle. Partly such cases are recorded by our fighters, and partly by the Russians themselves, who post relevant videos on social media," the prosecutor noted.

The Prosecutor General's Office believes that the Russian military high command supports the crimes of its soldiers, as it has not responded to the executions of Ukrainian prisoners that have been taking place for two years.

Belousov reminded that Ukraine and Russia have ratified the Geneva Convention No.3 relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War. The document clearly regulates the treatment of prisoners of war, but judging by the executions of Ukrainian soldiers, Russia does not comply with it.

The prosecutor said that the first cases of shootings of Ukrainian soldiers were recorded in the Chernihiv and Kharkiv regions.

Currently, in one case against a Russian army major, a Ukrainian court has sentenced him to life imprisonment for the execution in the Chernihiv region. Another similar case is pending in a court in the Chernihiv region.

The prosecutor's office also served notices to Russian military personnel for similar crimes committed in the Kharkiv region.

"In the relatively recent cases that occurred from November to the present, we are identifying the people involved and I think we will have suspicions in the coming days," Belousov emphasized.

• Recently, it was reported that Russian troops shot seven Ukrainian prisoners of war near Bakhmut. According to preliminary information, this happened on February 24. The Prosecutor General's Office has launched an investigation.