This is not the first time that Russian occupiers have brutally killed Ukrainian defenders on the battlefield. One of such cases in the Donetsk region became known recently from the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.
Beheading of a Ukrainian soldier in the Donetsk region
As the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Andrey Kostin reported, the leaders of one of the units of the Russian occupation forces in the Volnovakha district of the Donetsk region gave the order not to take Ukrainian military personnel prisoner, but to kill them with barbaric cruelty, beheading them.
One of such cases was noticed in the Donetsk region during aerial reconnaissance at one of the combat positions.
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Photo: Prosecutor General of Ukraine Andrey Kostin
Thus, Ukrainian defenders saw a damaged armored vehicle. On it they noticed a terrible discovery — the severed head of one of the Ukrainian soldiers.
The prosecutor's office has launched a pre-trial investigation into violation of the laws and customs of war, coupled with premeditated murder (Part 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
As of June 4, since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, more than 450 criminal proceedings have been registered on facts of ill-treatment of prisoners of war.
About 27 criminal proceedings are being investigated regarding the execution of 61 Ukrainian prisoners of war. In these proceedings, suspicion was reported to four Russian military personnel.
Indictments against two Russian occupiers have been sent to court. One verdict has already been received, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine said.
Torture of Ukrainians in Russian captivity
Now the Ukrainian prosecutor's office officially knows about about 2.2 thousand victims who were subjected to torture and inhumane treatment in Russian captivity.
— Everyone who was in Russian captivity was subjected to cruel treatment or torture by the occupiers, — states Prosecutor General Andrei Kostin.
Photo: Office of the Prosecutor General
According to him, prisoners of war are tortured and held in inhumane conditions, and they are beaten for speaking Ukrainian. There are known cases of torture with electric current.
Sometimes Ukrainians who returned from captivity told about how they witnessed the murders of other prisoners.
Andrey Kostin said that Russia has created an entire system for the detention of Ukrainian prisoners. Thus, at least 25 such objects were identified in 15 regions of the Russian Federation.
Russia's war crimes must not go unpunished
The Prosecutor General drew attention to the fact that the actions of Russian soldiers are a gross violation of the articles of the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War and the Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts.
At the same time, the Prosecutor General believes that the Kremlin's crimes must not go unpunished, and he also called on the entire civilized world to isolate and punish the aggressor country.
According to the Prosecutor General, the war crimes of the Russian Federation — not isolated incidents, but a planned strategy of the Russian regime.
