Russia and Ukraine are in the crosshairs of the UN, accused of “summary executions” of prisoners

The UN is deeply concerned about the summary executions of prisoners by Russian and Ukrainian forces. The allegations follow accusations that Russia murdered a Ukrainian soldier in captivity.

The UN said Friday it was “deeply concerned” by what it called summary executions of prisoners of war by both Russian and Ukrainian forces on the battlefield.

The allegations came shortly after Kyiv accused Russian forces of killing a captured Ukrainian serviceman who was filmed saying “Glory to Ukraine” before being shot dead.

Matilda Bogner, the head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, stated that her organization had recently recorded killings by both sides.

“We are deeply concerned about the summary execution of up to 25 Russian prisoners of war and persons hors de combat by Ukrainian armed forces, which we have documented,” Bogner said at a press conference in Kyiv on Friday.

“This was frequently committed immediately after capture on the battlefield,” she explained.

“While we are aware of ongoing investigations by Ukrainian authorities into five cases involving 22 victims, we are not aware of any prosecution of the perpetrators,” she added.

Bogner also expressed “deep” concern about the alleged executions of 15 Ukrainian prisoners by Russian armed forces following their capture.

She claimed that the Wagner mercenary group, which claims to be leading Russia’s assault on Bakhmut, the war’s longest and bloodiest battle, was responsible for 11 of the killings.

Since Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion a year ago, Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of mistreating prisoners of war.

In response to the UN report, Kyiv’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that holding the “victim of aggression” accountable was “unacceptable.”

According to a UN report issued on Friday, Ukrainian military personnel threatened prisoners of war with death, mock executions, or sexual violence. Some of the beatings were “purely retaliatory,” according to the report.

“In some cases, officers beat POWs saying, ‘This is for Bucha,'” detainees told the mission, referring to a town near Kyiv where Russian forces were accused of widespread atrocities.

“Before questioning, they showed me an axe handle covered in blood as a warning,” a Russian POW was quoted as saying.

“The questioning lasted about an hour, and they used electricity six times when they thought I was lying,” the detainee said, according to the report.

According to the report, Ukrainian POWs were tortured, sexually abused, denied food and water, and denied medical care.

According to the mission, they claimed they were tortured and ill-treated in order to extract information or as a form of punishment.

Ukrainian detainees reported being beaten with shovels, stabbed, shocked with electricity, and strangled.

“Some of them lost teeth or fingers, or had their ribs, fingers, or noses broken,” according to the report.

“They didn’t just beat us; they broke us. They used their fists, legs, batons, and tasers. There were POWs who had their arms or legs broken “According to one man.

Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian parliament’s human rights commissioner, said Friday he was “surprised” by the allegations against Ukrainian troops and had not been informed of them in advance.

On Telegram, he stated that he wanted to “know the facts and the indisputable arguments on which the conclusions” of the UN report were based.

In a separate statement on Friday, Kyiv’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs thanked the UN monitors for their efforts while emphasizing that Ukraine “expects the UN mission to avoid any steps that may be interpreted as equalizing the victim and the aggressor.”