The European Union condemns the shooting of Ukrainian prisoners of war by the Russian Federation
The High Representative of the European Union strongly condemned the executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war by Russia. As noted in statement EU Diplomatic Service, since the beginning of the full-scale war, 177 Ukrainian soldiers have died in Russian captivity.
In particular, on October 10 in the Kursk region, the Russian military executed nine Ukrainian prisoners, and on October 1, another 16 Ukrainian soldiers were shot in Donetsk region after their surrender.
“The European Union strongly condemns these murders, which are another disgusting example of Russia’s brutal treatment of the Ukrainian people. These cases are horrific and are serious violations of the Geneva Conventions. They demonstrate Russia’s constant and systematic disregard for international law, in particular international humanitarian law. Russia has clear obligations under the UN Charter and international law that it must fulfill”, says the statement.
The UN also confirmed the facts of systematic torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war, in particular sexual violence, carried out by the Russian military. The EU further condemned Russia’s refusal to provide prisoners with access to the outside world and the denial of independent humanitarian missions to places of detention.
According to the report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, published on October 1, 2024, the torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war is “massive and systematic” and is carried out with the permission of the Russian authorities. The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission has confirmed that 11,743 civilians have died since the start of the war, and another 24,614 have been injured.
On September 14, an exchange of prisoners took place between Russia and Ukraine, as a result of which 103 Ukrainian servicemen returned to their homeland. The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, did not rule out the possibility of an “all-for-all” exchange of prisoners before the end of the war.
