The UN reported an "increase in the number of executions of captured Ukrainian servicemen"

The UN reported an "increase in the number of executions of captured Ukrainian servicemen"

The UN reports a "significant increase in the number of executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war."

Since the end of August 2024, the UN mission has recorded 79 executions of Ukrainians in 24 separate incidents. 

"Many Ukrainian soldiers who were captured or were under the physical custody of Russian armed forces were killed on the spot. Witnesses also described the killings of unarmed and wounded Ukrainian soldiers," the report states.

The head of the mission, Daniel Bell, noted that "these incidents do not occur in a vacuum," and that they have been "openly advocated by Russian public figures." It is likely that the public figures refer to various far-right Russian groups that promote the killing of prisoners. For instance, such calls are regularly made by the neo-Nazi group "Rusich."

The UN also documented the execution of one "wounded and incapacitated" Russian soldier by Ukrainian forces in 2024.