Ukraine war prisoners executed, tortured — UN

Soldiers from both sides are not only dying in combat.

Russian and Ukrainian forces have executed prisoners of war on the battlefield, the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said on Friday.

UNHRMMU head Matilda Bogner said in a press conference in Kyiv that they documented the summary execution of up to 25 Russian POWs by Ukrainian troops.

“While we are aware of ongoing investigations by Ukraine authorities into five cases involving 22 victims, we are not aware of any prosecution of the perpetrators,”

Bogner said, according to Agence France-Presse.

One UN report issued Friday claimed Ukrainian military personnel had subjected prisoners of war to death threats, mock executions or threats of sexual violence. Some beatings were “purely retaliatory,” it said.

“In some cases, officers beat POWs saying: ‘This is for Bucha,’” the mission reported detainees as saying, referring to a town near Kyiv where Russian forces were accused of widespread atrocities.

Ukrainian POWs were also executed by Russian forces and Wagner mercenaries leading the assault on the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, according to Bogner.

Kyiv accused Russian forces of killing a captured Ukrainian serviceman who was filmed saying “Glory to Ukraine” before being shot dead.

Ukrainian POWs quoted in the report said they were subjected to torture, sexual violence, a lack of food and water and denied medical attention.

Ukrainian prisoners reported being beaten with shovels, stabbed, subjected to electric shocks and strangled.

“Some of them lost their teeth or fingers, had their ribs, fingers or noses broken,” the report said.

“They did not just beat us, they broke us. They used their fists, legs, batons, tasers. There were POWs who had their arms or legs broken,” one man was quoted as saying.