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The United Nations issues damning report about crimes Russia’s troops committed in eastern Ukraine.
In the report, U.N. investigators have accused Russian authorities of disregarding basic human rights principles and causing untold suffering to Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians by subjecting them to appalling treatment.
The Russian invaders executed more than 110 Ukrainian soldiers after they surrendered.
The torture used by Russian authorities against Ukrainian prisoners in Ukraine and the Russian Federation was widespread and systematic.
Yurii Belousov, Head of the Department for Combating Crimes Committed in the Context of Armed Conflict in the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine said the International Criminal Court is working with Ukrainian investigators to investigate torture and ill-treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russian prisons.
On March 26, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine presented a report in which, among other things, it recorded the executions of at least 32 Ukrainian prisoners of war in 12 separate cases between December 2023 and February 2024, which is “significantly more than in any of the previous periods.”
The investigators presented a blistering account of “violations of international human rights and international humanitarian law, and corresponding war crimes,” committed by Russia in Ukrainian areas under its control.
Victims’ accounts disclose relentless, brutal treatment inflicting severe pain and suffering during prolonged detention with blatant disregard for human dignity.
This has led to long-lasting physical and mental trauma.
Ukrainian defense intelligence sources have given CNN a list of 15 cases since November, 2023, most supported by drone video or audio intercepts, in which they say surrendering Ukrainian troops were killed by the Russians on the front lines, rather than being taken prisoner.
Ukrainian prosecutors said on September, 2, 2024 they had launched an investigation into the Russian shooting of three surrendering Ukrainian servicemen on the eastern front near Pokrovsk, the main focus of Russia’s assault.
The latest incident took place after Russian troops attacked a trench used by the Ukrainian military for cover on August, 27, 2024.
The footage from Pokrovsk region to reflect the relentlessly brutal tactics of the Russian military as they try to advance in Ukraine’s east.
Andriy Kostin, the prosecutor general, said on X that Kyiv was investigating alleged executions of 73 Ukrainian prisoners carried out by Russian troops. He said an increasing number of such cases had been documented.
“This war crime is part of Russia’s ongoing gross violations of international humanitarian law. Russian barbarism is a disgrace to humanity,” Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Heorhiy Tykhyi said on X.
Kyiv says it has documented nearly 130,000 war crimes committed by Moscow since its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
These can be classified as crimes against humanity.
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