kyiv investigates alleged execution of six of its soldiers captured by Russian army

The Ukrainian soldiers were taken prisoner in the east of the country, where Russian forces continue to advance.

Ukraine announced on Tuesday, November 5, that it was investigating the alleged execution of six of its soldiers after their capture by Russian forces on the Eastern Front. According to the Ukrainian Prosecutor's Office, three of these soldiers were shot dead on October 23 after being taken prisoner “during an offensive on the town of Selydove”which the Russian army claimed its capture on October 29.

Three more captured Ukrainian soldiers were executed on November 1 “during an assault on fortifications in the Pokrovsk sector”an important logistical node to which the Russians have been approaching for weeks, the Prosecutor's Office said on Telegram.

The Ukrainian authorities claimed at the end of October to have information on the execution by Russian soldiers of more than a hundred prisoners of war, in the majority of cases recently.

Ukraine and Russia have repeatedly accused each other of killing prisoners of war since the start of the Russian invasion launched in February 2022. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights says to have “documented numerous violations of international humanitarian law against prisoners of war, including cases of summary executions of Russian and Ukrainian prisoners of war”.