Kyiv has evidence that Russia liquidated 93 Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered
Ukraine has documented evidence of the execution of 93 Ukrainian prisoners of war, according to an official in charge of investigating war crimes related to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Yuriy Belousov, head of the department in the General Prosecutor's Office in charge of investigating crimes committed in armed conflicts, announced the latest figure during a television interview.
- Now we have information about the death of 93 of our soldiers who were executed on the battlefield - said Belousov, reports Radio Free Europe (RSE).
Belousov noted that about 80 percent of the executions were recorded this year, and the number began to rise in November "when there was a deterioration in the attitude of Russian soldiers towards prisoners of war."
On October 1, the Prosecutor General's Office announced that it had opened an investigation into what it described as the "largest mass execution" of Ukrainian prisoners by Russian troops since the invasion began in February 2022.
According to an official statement published on Telegram, Russian forces recently killed 16 Ukrainian prisoners near the villages of Nikolaevka and Sukhyi Yar in the vicinity of Pokrovsk, Donetsk region.
Videos circulating on various Telegram channels purportedly show Ukrainian soldiers who had just been captured by Russian forces emerging from a wooded area. After the prisoners were lined up, Russian forces opened fire. The footage then shows Russian soldiers approaching the injured and shooting them again at close range with a machine gun.
Under international humanitarian law, the execution of surrendering soldiers is considered a war crime