Russian commanders have ordered not to take Ukrainian soldiers prisoner but to behead them instead, said Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andrii Kostin on social media.
According to Kostin, another case of beheading of a Ukrainian defender was recorded in the Donetsk region.
“New horrific evidence of Russia’s criminal policy aimed at destroying Ukrainians. We have received information that Russian commanders ordered not to take Ukrainian soldiers prisoner but to kill them with inhuman cruelty by beheading,” he wrote.
Kostin emphasized that the killing of prisoners of war is a horrific barbarism that has no right to occur in the 21st century.
The beheading of a Ukrainian prisoner of war is yet another proof that the war crimes committed by the aggressor are not isolated incidents but a planned strategy of the Russian regime. Specifically, criminal orders were given at the battalion and company command levels of the occupying forces, the official noted.
In this regard, Kostin called on the international community not to leave these crimes unpunished and to isolate and punish Russia.
Earlier, Yuri Bielousov, head of the Department for Counteracting Crimes Committed in Conditions of Armed Conflict, stated that the Office of the Prosecutor General has initiated 27 criminal cases regarding the execution of 54 Ukrainian prisoners of war.
Read more:
- Text of Ukraine peace summit communiqué finalized, FM Kuleba says
- Ukrainian forces hit 15 Russian air defense systems in Crimea over two months
- Russia steps up offensives to drain Ukraine ahead of F-16 arrivals, Ukrainian commander says
- Polish FM: Restoring Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders is scenario for resolving war