- Category
- Latest news
Number of Ukrainian POWs Executed by Russian Forces Revealed by Ukraine’s Intelligence
- Authors
![Amira_barkhush]( "Photo of Amira Barkhush")
The Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (HUR) has recorded more than 150 cases of Ukrainian soldiers being executed on the battlefield since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
This was reported by HUR on May 24 on their official website.
Ukrainian intelligence also reported intercepting direct orders to kill prisoners of war. These incidents, according to officials, are part of a broader, systematic policy.
HUR cited remarks by Dr. Morris Tidball-Binz, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, who stated that such executions “would not happen in such numbers and frequency without orders, or at least consent from highest military commanders, which in Russia means the Presidency.”
According to the intelligence, this pattern has also been confirmed by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine. In its report dated March 19, 2025, the Commission highlighted a growing number of cases in which Russian forces deliberately killed or injured Ukrainian soldiers who had surrendered or were attempting to surrender.
“Several Russian deserters confirmed that they had received orders not to take prisoners, but to kill them,” the report stated. “One deserter quoted a deputy brigade commander as saying, ‘We don’t need prisoners, shoot them on the spot.’”
On May 21, CNN reported that Ukrainian authorities were investigating 75 criminal cases involving the alleged executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war by Russian forces.
-050b2b5554ed561c87f909a001f905b9.png)
-21d0b63c17f6020e4df75f6c6f9a2f4f.jpg "Photo of Ivan Khomenko")
