The Prosecutor Generalʼs Office is investigating the murder of 54 Ukrainian prisoners of war. According to these facts, the prosecutorʼs office has 27 criminal proceedings.
The head of the Department for Combating Crimes Committed in the Conditions of the Armed Conflict of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Yuriy Belousov stated this on the air of Suspilne.
Commenting on the video of the execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war published on social networks on April 7, Belousov noted that it was previously confirmed: the crime took place near Krynky in the Kherson region, but the details are still being checked. He also urged not to announce the names of the dead prematurely.
Belousov noted that based on these and previous facts, the law enforcement officers are "working out" not only the executors and the responsible command, but also the highest military and political leadership, since "this is not an isolated case, but evidence of the policy of the Russian Federation."
Cases of executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war have been recorded since March 2022. The court has already sentenced the first Russian soldier for the execution of a defender in the Chernihiv region. The investigation is complicated by the fact that prosecutors and investigators usually do not have access to the crime scene and the opportunity to examine the body.
"But this work is ongoing. Ukraine has a unique experience of documenting crimes without even having access to the territory... We work with the International Criminal Court (ICC), the UN Monitoring Mission, intelligence agencies and non-governmental organizations that also collect information. Our task now is to document, record, tell the world the truth. The criminals will end up on the dock, itʼs just a matter of time," Belousov said.
- On April 7, 2024, Russian Telegram channels published a video of Russian soldiers shooting three captured Ukrainian soldiers. Presumably, they were already dead at that time, since they were not moving. In the description under the video, it was noted that it happened near Krynky, Kherson region.
- The Prosecutor Generalʼs Office is investigating the involvement of Russian occupiers from the 328th and 245th regiments of the 104th Airborne Division of the Russian Air Force in the shooting of captured Ukrainian soldiers in Krynky. At the same time, the involvement of other units of the Russian army, which could have been near Krynky at the time of the war crime, is being investigated. The Prosecutor Generalʼs Office notes that information about the shooting of Ukrainian prisoners of war first appeared on Russian Telegram channels on April 6, and the next day Ukrainian law enforcement officers began investigating.
- This was the fifth case of execution of prisoners of war made public since February. The first case happened near the village of Vesele (Bakhmut district) — two soldiers were killed there, the second — at the "Zenith" position in Avdiivka, where six soldiers of the 110th brigade of the Armed Forces were probably shot. The third was near Robotyne (three Ukrainian defenders were killed). And on February 25, it became clear that the Russian military had once again shot Ukrainian prisoners of war "on camera." The moment of execution was filmed by a copter. Commissioner for Human Rights in Ukraine Dmytro Lubinets indicates that at least seven prisoners were killed.
- The number of confirmed murders of Ukrainian prisoners of war has increased over the past month. If at the beginning of March it was reported about 45 documented murders of prisoners of war, which were investigated within 19 criminal proceedings, now there are 54 crimes.