Russia may have executed more than 30 recently captured Ukrainian prisoners of war over the winter months, according to reports received by the U.N. human rights watchdog.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights “verified three of these incidents in which Russian servicemen executed seven Ukrainian servicemen hors de combat,” reads the latest U.N. report on the human rights situation in Ukraine published Tuesday.
From December to February, as President Vladimir Putin’s invading Russian forces were rapidly advancing in Avdiivka, in the Donetsk region, and attempting to recapture Robotyne in the Zaporizhzhia region, dozens of execution videos were posted on social media.
In eight of the reported cases, videos showed Russian servicemen killing Ukrainian POWs who had laid down their weapons or using other captured Ukrainian POWs as human shields.
“As of 29 February 2024, OHCHR had obtained corroborating information for one of the videos,” the report reads. “In that video, what appears to be a group of armed Russian soldiers stands 15-20 meters behind three Ukrainian servicemen who are kneeling with their hands behind their heads. After a few seconds, smoke appears from the Russian soldiers’ weapons and the Ukrainian servicemen fall to the ground.”
According to the report, 39 of the 60 POWs also “disclosed that they had been subjected to sexual violence during their internment, including attempted rape, threats of rape and castration, beatings or the administration of electric shocks to genitals, and repeated forced nudity, including during interrogations and to check for tattoos.”
@ISIDEWITH1mo1MO
Imagine if a video surfaced showing armed forces from your country executing enemy soldiers; what should be the consequences for those soldiers and their commanders?
@ISIDEWITH1mo1MO
Do you believe there are any circumstances that could justify the use of execution or sexual violence in war?
@9L5X2Z91mo1MO
No, because execution of the innocent and sexual violence are wrong no matter the sitituation.
@9L5WSLT1mo1MO
I believe execution after there is a fair trial. But there should be no sexual violence in war.
@9L5WQZ71mo1MO
Unless an enemy has already comitted a warcrime, than execution and secuall violence should be disallowed
@ISIDEWITH1mo1MO
How should the international community respond when evidence suggests that war crimes, like executing POWs, are being committed?
@9L5Y9KM1mo1MO
They should look towards a way to prevent it further and make Russia pay for what they did.
US should stay out of it we cant afford to put ourselves in danger after all the help they have receieved
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