Russian Forces Reportedly Execute Six Ukrainian POWs on Camera

Russian forces have reportedly executed six Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs), Ukrainian activist Serhii Sternenko stated on January 23, providing a screenshot from the video, while restraining from posting the video itself “for obvious reasons.”

According to the activist, the crime was recorded on a phone by one of the perpetrators.

“The execution of prisoners is a deliberate state policy of Russia. Not long ago, Putin glorified the 155th Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces and even raised its flag. This is the same brigade notorious for repeatedly killing prisoners and decapitating them,” Sternenko wrote.

Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, commented on the video is circulating online, allegedly showing the execution of unarmed Ukrainian POWs by Russian forces.

“The video shows the occupiers documenting their own crime—the execution of six unarmed Ukrainian soldiers who had been taken prisoner, shot in the back. The footage cuts off as a seventh soldier is seen lying on the ground, with his fate remaining unknown,“ Lubinets wrote on his official account on Telegram.

Previously, on November 11, Sternenko posted a video of Russian forces executing two captured Ukrainian soldiers in Russia’s Kursk region. The video was provided to the activist by the Ukrainian forces.

On the same day, Lubinets confirmed the war crime, in which Russia violated the Geneva Convention and international humanitarian law.

On October 13 report, the American Institute for the Study of War noted a rise in the executions of Ukrainian POWs by Russian military forces. Their latest reports suggest that Russian commanders may be permitting, encouraging, or even directly ordering these acts.