Ukraine accused Russia today of executing five soldiers who had been taken prisoner by Russian forces, denouncing an increase in such incidents.

Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament’s Commissioner for Human Rights, referred to a video circulating on social media, which, according to him, shows at least five prisoners of war who have unquestionably been killed.

“Once again, we are witnessing the cynical disregard for international humanitarian law by the Russian military,” Lubinets stated on Telegram.

Appeal to International Organizations

Lubinets added that he had sent a letter to the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), urging them to register this as a war crime.

The United Nations had already condemned a rise in the execution of captured Ukrainian soldiers by Russian forces in recent months, echoing Kyiv’s accusations.

The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) reported that since late August, it had documented 79 executions of this kind in 24 separate incidents.

Calls for Inhumane Treatment

According to Danielle Bell, head of the UN mission, public figures in Russia have explicitly called for inhumane treatment and even the execution of captured Ukrainian soldiers, which could incite or encourage unlawful behavior.

A Pattern of Executions

Back in October, Lubinets had stated that there was evidence of at least 102 Ukrainian prisoners of war executed since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office also reported that executions of captured soldiers began to increase significantly at the end of 2023 and that the vast majority occurred the following year.

Mutual Accusations of War Crimes

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago, Moscow and Kyiv have repeatedly accused each other of executing prisoners of war, acts that constitute war crimes under international law.