UN accuses Ukrainians and Russians of 'summary executions' of prisoners of war
Videos circulating on the web showing executions of prisoners of war from both enemy camps have caused a stir in Ukraine and Russia.
The UN on Friday accused Ukrainian and Russian forces of committing summary executions of prisoners of war during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
We are deeply concerned about the summary execution of 25 Russian prisoners of war and persons hors de combat, as well as 15 Ukrainian prisoners of war, said Matilda Bogner, Chief of United Nations human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine.
According to Bogner, the UN has documented such executions of Russians by Ukrainian armed forces, often carried out immediately after capture on the battlefield.
UN is aware of five investigations carried out by Kyiv involving 22 victims, but we are not aware of any prosecution of the perpetrators of these crimes, she added.
Regarding the executions of 15 Ukrainian POWs shortly after their capture by Russian armed forces, 11 of them were carried out by the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, the official said.
< p class="e-p">Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Kyiv and Moscow have accused each other of mistreating prisoners amounting to war crimes.
In a report released on Friday, the United Nations human rights monitoring mission claimed that members of the Ukrainian armed forces had subjected Russian prisoners of war to death threats, mock executions and mock attacks. execution or threats of sexual violence.
In several cases, the beatings were purely retaliatory, according to the report.
In some cases, officers beat POWs saying, ''It's for Boutcha'', the mission said, in reference to a town near Kiev where Russian forces have been accused of atrocities.
Before the interrogation, they showed me an ax handle covered in blood as a warning, said a Russian POW quoted in the report, who says he was tortured at the ;electricity.
The report also denounces the ill-treatment suffered by Ukrainian prisoners of war at the hands of Russian forces, including torture, denial of medical treatment which sometimes resulted in death, sexual violence, denial of access to water and food.
Ukrainian POWs have reported being tortured and ill-treated for information or as punishment. They said they were beaten with shovels, stabbed, electrically shocked and strangled.
Some of them lost teeth or fingers, were break ribs, fingers or nose, says the report.
They didn't just beat us, they broke us. They used their fists, their legs, batons, Tasers. Some prisoners of war had their arms or legs broken, a man quoted in the text said.
Ukrainian Human Rights Envoy Dmytro Loubinets, s& #x27;is said Friday on Telegram surprised by the UN accusations against Kiev and not having been informed in advance.
Without directly denying the violations attributed to the Ukrainian forces, he said he wanted to know the indisputable facts and arguments on which the conclusions of the UN report are based.
In early March, a video showing the alleged execution of a Ukrainian prisoner of war by Russian soldiers caused a shock in Ukraine.
In November, the The Kremlin was indignant at two videos showing the alleged execution of a dozen Russian soldiers who had just surrendered to Ukrainian forces.
