The UN on Friday accused Ukrainian and Russian forces of carrying out dozens of summary executions of prisoners of war during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and of mistreating other prisoners.
“We are deeply concerned about the summary execution of 25 Russian prisoners of war and persons hors de combat” as well as “15 Ukrainian prisoners of war”, said Matilda Bogner, head of the human rights monitoring mission. United Nations man in Ukraine.
According to Mme Bogner, the UN has documented these executions of Russians by the Ukrainian armed forces, “often” carried out “immediately after capture on the battlefield”.
The UN is aware of five investigations carried out by kyiv which implicate 22 victims, but “we are not aware of any prosecution of the perpetrators” of these crimes, she added.
Regarding the executions of 15 Ukrainian prisoners of war “shortly after their capture” by the Russian armed forces, “11 of them were perpetrated by the Russian paramilitary group Wagner”, the official further indicated.
Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Kyiv and Moscow have accused each other of mistreatment of prisoners amounting to war crimes.
Torture and sexual violence
In a report released on Friday, the United Nations human rights monitoring mission claimed that members of the Ukrainian armed forces had subjected Russian prisoners of war to death threats, mock executions or threats of sexual violence.
In several cases, the beatings were “purely retaliatory”, according to the report.
“In some cases, officers beat prisoners of war saying, ‘This is for Boutcha,'” the mission said, referring to a town near Kiev where Russian forces have been accused of atrocities.
“Before the interrogation, they showed me an ax handle covered in blood as a warning,” said a Russian POW quoted in the report, who says he was tortured with electric shocks.
The report also denounces the ill-treatment suffered by Ukrainian prisoners of war at the hands of Russian forces, including torture, denial of medical care which has sometimes resulted in death, sexual violence, denial of access to water and the food.
We are not aware of any lawsuits against the authors. [de ces crimes]
Ukrainian prisoners of war said they were tortured and ill-treated to reveal information or as punishment. They said they were beaten with shovels, stabbed, electrically shocked and strangled.
“Some of them have lost teeth or fingers, broken ribs, fingers or noses,” the report said.
“They didn’t just beat us, they broke us. They used their fists, their legs, batons, Tasers. Some prisoners of war had their arms or legs broken,” said a man quoted in the text.
At the beginning of March, a video showing the alleged execution of a Ukrainian prisoner of war by Russian soldiers caused shock in Ukraine.
In November, the Kremlin was outraged for its part by two videos showing the alleged execution of a dozen Russian soldiers who had just surrendered to the Ukrainian forces.