Prisoners of war in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
[7] Videos showing Ukrainian prisoners of war being forced to sing pro-Russian songs or carrying bruises have attracted concerns about their treatment.
[10] Another video circulated showing an interview by pro-Kremlin UK journalist Graham Phillips (former reporter of RT and Zvezda) of Ukrainian war prisoner of British nationality Aiden Aslin.
In the video he appears in handcuffs with a cut on his forehead, is repeatedly called a "mercenary" rather than an official combatant, and told that his crime is punishable by death.
[11] The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine later expressed worries about the treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war held by Russian and separatist forces.
A male prisoner reportedly had been pulled with ropes tied around genitalia; The UN agency also collected information about nine possible cases of death during the "admission procedures" to the internment camps.
[12] On 22 July, Human Rights Watch documented the torture of three Ukrainian prisoners of war, members of the Territorial Defense Forces, and the death of two of them in the occupied areas of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts.
[13] As of 31 July 2022, OHCHR verified that, out of 35 interviewed, 27 Ukrainian prisoners of war had been subjected to torture by Russian and pro-Russian armed forces and policemen.
[17][19] At an Arria-formula meeting of the UN Security Council, the US ambassador-at-large for global criminal justice Beth Van Schaack said that US authorities have evidence that surrendering Ukrainian soldiers were executed by the Russian army in the Donbas region.
[22] Eyewitness accounts and a video filmed by a security camera provide evidence that on 4 March 2022 Russian paratroopers executed at least eight Ukrainian prisoners of war in Bucha.
[5] In late January 2025, a video circulated around various social media outlets allegedly showing Russian military personnel executing Ukrainian POWs in an unidentifiable location in Donetsk Oblast.
[23][30][27] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine decried the shooting as an atrocity and forwarded relevant information to international organizations, such as the United Nations and Red Cross, due to the violation of the Geneva Convention.
[26][25][31][30][27] Following a trial by the Supreme Court of the Donetsk People's Republic, three foreign-born members of the Ukrainian armed forces, Aiden Aslin, Shaun Pinner, and Brahim Saadoun were declared mercenaries and sentenced to execution by firing squad.
Any perpetrators (anyone engaged in the so-called DPR ‘court’ and anyone who conspired to execute this decision) will be regarded as war criminals", also pointing out that neither Russian nor Ukrainian law allows the death penalty.
[54][55] In early March a graphic 12-second video showing an unarmed soldier with a Ukrainian uniform, who is standing in a shallow trench, he says "Slava Ukraini" ("Glory to Ukraine"), while calmly smoking a cigarette, the Russian officer in charge of the prisoner (off camera) then shouts "Die Bitch!"
[60] One video purportedly filmed by Wagner Group mercenaries and posted on April 8, shows the bodies of two Ukrainian soldiers next to a destroyed military vehicle, their heads and hands missing, with a voice commenting in Russian in the background.
[63] Both videos led to strong condemnation by western and Ukrainian officials and media, with some drawing comparisons between this case and beheadings by the Islamic State.
[66] On 18 September 2022, the Ukrainian Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War (Ukrainian: Координаційний штаб з питань поводження з військовополоненими), as a continuation of the project designed to inform the Russian military about the possibility of laying down weapons and preserving their lives, launched a special state project called "I Want to Live", with a 24-hour hotline for receiving appeals from the Russian military and their families.
[69][70] On 4 May 2023, the hotline's spokesperson Vitaliy Matvienko stated that it received requests to surrender from 3200 Russian soldiers in April 2023, representing a 10% increase over March 2023.
[1][76][77] The videos have raised concerns about potential violations of Article 13 Third Geneva Convention, which states that prisoners of war should be protected "against insults and public curiosity.
[2] On 16 March, Human Rights Watch described the videos as intentional humiliation and shaming, and urged the Ukrainian authorities to stop posting them on social media and messaging apps.
[84] Interviewed by Der Spiegel, international law expert Daniel-Erasmus Khan [de] said that "letting POWs call home is actually a good thing, filming it and putting it online however is not," as it was incompatible with the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war.
[7] According to the 26 March 2022 OHCHR report, the HRMMU was aware of one allegation of a threat of sexual violence by a Ukrainian soldier, in which "a captured Russian military member was threatened with castration on camera".
[87] On 2 March 2022, after the shelling of residential areas, Ukraine's Special Operations Forces threatened that Russian artillerymen will no longer be taken prisoner, but immediately killed.
[90] On 6 April a video apparently showing Ukrainian troops of the Georgian Legion executing captured Russian soldiers was posted on Telegram.
[95] On 12 November, a video appeared on pro-Ukrainian websites showing the bodies of soldiers in Russian uniforms lying on the ground in a farmyard in the Makiivka area.
[98][99] An aerial video from the site documents the aftermath, with at least 12 bodies of Russian soldiers, most positioned as they were when they surrendered, bleeding from gunshot wounds to the head.
[99][101] Ukraine's officials said the Prosecutor General’s office would investigate the video footage as the incident may qualify as a crime of "perfidy" committed by the Russian troops in feigning surrender.
[101][102] On 25 November the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said “Our Monitoring Mission in Ukraine has conducted a preliminary analysis indicating that these disturbing videos are highly likely to be authentic in what they show” and called on the Ukrainian authorities to investigate the allegations of summary executions of Russian prisoners of war "in a manner that is – and is seen to be – independent, impartial, thorough, transparent, prompt and effective.”[103] The HRMMU also expressed concern about the prosecution of pro-Russian separatists for mere participation in the hostilities, which is prohibited under international humanitarian law.
