The Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reported about a new testimony of a war crime by the Russian military: Ukrainian special services managed to intercept a conversation in which one of the commanders of the Russian army gives an order to execute captured Ukrainian soldiers.
“Cut off the head, put it on the top, throw it on …”, – the Russian commander orders.
We are talking about the field commander of the 155th separate marine brigade of the Pacific Fleet of Russia. This unit is currently participating in hostilities on the territory of the Sumy region. In the intercepted conversation, according to the GUR data, the order to kill Ukrainian prisoners of war was clearly recorded.
Intelligence recalled that this brigade is not the first to appear in reports of violations of international humanitarian law. It was the 155th brigade that the Ukrainian side repeatedly accused of committing war crimes during the temporary occupation of settlements in the Kyiv region, as well as in other areas. According to the GUR, this particular part was repeatedly covered up with a special political status in the Russian Federation itself — in particular, its symbolism was used during Vladimir Putin’s public speeches, in particular at the December final press conference in 2024.
According to the Office of the Prosecutor General, at least 268 killings of Ukrainian prisoners of war have been recorded since the start of the full-scale war, and the number continues to rise. Law enforcement officers opened dozens of criminal proceedings related to the execution of prisoners of war:
– in 2022, 8 cases were opened regarding the murder of 57 prisoners,
– in 2023 — 8 cases involving the death of 11 more people,
– in 2024, there will already be 39 proceedings related to 149 cases of murder,
– from the beginning of 2025 – 20 criminal proceedings against 51 executed Ukrainian prisoners of war.
According to the investigators’ estimates, the number of executions is increasing every year, which may indicate the systematic nature of such crimes by the Russian military.
