Ukraine denounces Russia’s reported execution of captured troops
Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman has condemned the alleged execution of nine Ukrainian soldiers captured by Russian forces in the Kursk border region.
Dmytro Lubinets announced that he had contacted the United Nations and the Red Cross regarding the accusations, accusing Moscow of violating “all the rules and customs of war.”
His statement came after the Ukrainian battlefield analysis site, DeepState, reported on the incident, sharing drone footage that purportedly showed the bodies of the dead soldiers, who were believed to be drone operators. Russian officials have not yet commented on the allegations.
Kyiv is thought to have deployed thousands of troops into Russia’s border region following its surprise incursion earlier this summer.
DeepState published images of the Ukrainian soldiers, stripped to their underwear and lying face down in what appeared to be farmland in Kursk. The BBC has not been able to independently verify the footage.
According to DeepState, the drone operators were overrun by a swift Russian advance.
“These actions must not go unpunished, and the enemy must be held fully accountable,” Lubinets wrote on Telegram. “The international community cannot turn a blind eye to such crimes!”
Kyiv has frequently accused Russian of executing captured Ukrainian troops – a war crime under the Geneva Convention. Earlier this month the prosecutor general’s office alleged that Russian forces had executed 93 Ukrainian soldiers since the beginning of the conflict.
It added that an official investigation had been opened into reports that 16 Ukrainian soldiers were executed in the eastern Donetsk region near the city of Pokrovsk – where fighting has raged for months. Officials said the reports would mark the “largest mass execution” of Ukrainian prisoners of war by Russian troops since Moscow launched its invasion in February 2022.
The Kremlin denies that its soldiers have been committing war crimes in Ukraine.
The reports come as Russian forces continue to attack Ukrainian positions in Kursk. President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address from Kyiv on Saturday that Ukrainian troops had fought off a renewed Russian advance in the region.
Analysts say that Kyiv launched the offensive to try and force Russia to redirect some of its troops from its offensive in eastern Ukraine. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has estimated that around 40,000 Russian forces are now active in Kursk – up from 11,000 when Ukrainian troops first crossed the border.
But the offensive has failed to slow Russian momentum in the eastern Donbas region, where relentless attacks has slowly pushed Ukrainian forces backwards.
The Ukrainian leader acknowledged that “there are very difficult conditions, with harsh enemy actions” in both Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia in his address on Saturday.
On Sunday morning, the Russian defence ministry said its forces had seized the village of Mykhailivka, which sits along a highway near the key city of Pokrovsk.
Russian forces have been advancing towards Pokrovsk – which is a key logistics hub – for months. Experts say if Russia can seize the city Ukraine’s ability to resupply units in other crucial towns would become far more difficult.
Meanwhile, Russian aerial attacks on Ukraine continued overnight. Air force officials in Kyiv said Moscow launched 68 drones and four missiles towards Ukrainian territory.
