ISW: Russian command endorses execution of captured Ukrainian soldiers

That’s according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) think tank, reports Ukrinform.

"Russian forces are increasingly executing surrendering Ukrainian soldiers throughout the frontline likely in part because Russian commanders appear to be endorsing the proliferation of such war crimes," analysts say.

ISW recalled that on September 6, CNN released a video showing the execution by the Russian military of Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered near Pokrovsk in Donetsk region late August and in Zaporizhzhia region in May. According to CNN sources in Ukrainian military intelligence, since November 2023, 15 cases of such executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war by the invaders have been recorded.

"ISW has extensively reported on previous footage and reports of Russian servicemembers executing Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) and observed a wider trend of prolific Russian abuses against Ukrainian POWs across various sectors of the front that appeared to be enabled, if not explicitly endorsed, by individual Russian commanders and upheld by Russian field commanders," analysts note.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, CNN released footage showing what appears to be an execution of the three captured Ukrainian military personnel by the Russians near Pokrovsk.

The prosecutor's office has launched a pre-trial investigation. Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said that since the outset of the full-scale invasion, 28 such cases have been documented where a total of 62 Ukrainian servicemen are believed to have been executed.