The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine reported 79 cases of execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war by Russian troops in 24 separate incidents since late August 2024. Most of these cases occurred in areas of active fighting during Russian offensive operations.
“The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine today expressed concern about a sharp increase in reports of executions of Ukrainian servicemen captured by Russian armed forces. Since the end of August 2024, the Mission has documented 79 such executions in 24 separate incidents,” the report said.
Many Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered or were held in custody by Russian forces were shot on the spot. Witness accounts also described the killing of unarmed and wounded Ukrainian soldiers.
For 24 incidents, the Mission received and analyzed video and photographic material published by Ukrainian and Russian sources showing executions or corpses. The Mission also conducted detailed interviews with witnesses. Incidents with geolocation and chronology indicate that the reported executions occurred in areas where Russian offensive operations were ongoing. These reports were assessed as credible.
“These incidents did not occur in a vacuum. Public figures in the Russian Federation have openly called for the inhumane treatment and even execution of captured Ukrainian servicemen. Combined with broad amnesty laws, such statements can incite or encourage unlawful behavior,” said UN Mission Head Danielle Bell.
It is noted that in 2024, the Mission recorded at least 3 such calls from Russian federal government officials, as well as a number of social media posts by military groups affiliated with the Russian armed forces, reportedly ordering or approving executions.
The UN stresses that international humanitarian law prohibits giving orders to leave no one alive, threatening the enemy with such orders, or conducting hostilities on this basis. Declaring that “there will be no mercy” is a serious violation of international humanitarian law and a war crime.
“All claims of execution of captured Ukrainian servicemen and public statements calling for or justifying such actions must be investigated,” Bell said.
In addition, the UN states that the Mission also documented the execution by the Ukrainian Armed Forces of a wounded and incapacitated Russian soldier in 2024.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Andriy Sybiga, commenting on the data provided on the increase in the number of executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war by the Russians, stated that this may be one of the largest campaigns of deliberate killing of prisoners of war in modern history.
“These atrocities require urgent international action. Russia’s horrific executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war demonstrate that Ukraine is confronting real beasts. The world must not only condemn, but also take urgent measures. New effective international legal instruments are needed, concrete steps to bring the perpetrators to justice,” Sybiga emphasized.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported in October 2024 that Russian forces have recently increased the number of systematic executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war.
On October 4, 2024, Yuriy Belousov, head of the war crimes department of the Prosecutor General's Office, reported that the Russian occupiers executed 93 Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield.
