Russian military shoots captured Ukrainian soldiers

Near Vuhledar, Donetsk region, the occupiers shot five captured soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

According to the Donetsk Regional Prosecutor's Office, on October 2, Russian soldiers stormed the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near the town of Vuhledar. During the attack, the occupiers captured 5 unarmed Ukrainian defenders. They killed one of them in a forest belt, and four of them were taken to the road under the sights of automatic weapons, where they were also shot.

"The killing of prisoners of war is a gross violation of the Geneva Conventions and is classified as a serious international crime. Urgent investigative actions are underway to establish all the circumstances of the incident," the statement said.

The Office of the Prosecutor General states that the number of executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war is increasing every month. In October-November, the prosecutor's office opened 13 cases of executions of 54 Ukrainian prisoners of war, which is a third of all such proceedings in 2024.

According to the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, at least 177 Ukrainian prisoners have died in Russian captivity since the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. According to Victoria Tsymbalyuk, a representative of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, the more time prisoners of war spend in Russian prisons, the closer they are to death. She also noted that due to the lack of international control, the real number of deaths in Russian prisons is probably much higher.

"177 is the number we have established. But, of course, not all the bodies have been returned, and Russia has not even confirmed that many of them were held in captivity," added Tsymbalyuk.

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