The command of the Russian Federation supports the execution of prisoners of the Armed Forces: ISW analysts
According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) in reports on September 6, the Russian command not only allows, but also approves the killing of Ukrainian soldiers who are captured.
“Russian forces are increasingly executing Ukrainian soldiers who surrender themselves along the front line, likely in part because the Russian high command appears to approve of the proliferation of such war crimes“, the report says.
The Institute also recalled the video footage released by CNN on September 6, showing how Russian troops execute Ukrainian prisoners of war. Such incidents were recorded near Pokrovsk in Donetsk region in August 2024 and in Zaporizhia region in May 2024. In the same CNN article, it was noted that in the last 10 months, the Ukrainian military recorded at least 15 cases of shootings of prisoners of war by the Russian military.
Prosecutor General of Ukraine Andriy Kostin said in an interview with CNN that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia in February 2022, the Prosecutor General’s Office is investigating at least 28 cases of executions of Ukrainian prisoners.
CNN sources at the UN said that the “nature” of these executions indicates complacency on the part of the Russian military, and possibly an order not to spare the prisoners. They emphasized that these actions can be qualified as crimes against humanity.
“ISW has repeatedly reported on previous footage and reports of Russian soldiers executing Ukrainian POWs, and has observed a wider trend of multiple Russian abuses of Ukrainian POWs on various fronts that appear to have been permitted, if not outright approved, by Russia. by individual Russian commanders and supported by Russian field commanders”, – analysts added.
