Russian forces have executed 147 Ukrainian prisoners of war since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
127 of the executions have been carried out in 2024, according to the Ukrainian Prosecutor’s Office.
– It is systematic, says Yuri Belousov at the authority BBC.
Yuri Belousov – who is in charge of war-related cases at the prosecutor’s office – says the upward trend is “very, very clear”.
– Executions became systematic in November last year and they have only continued, he says in an interview with BBC.
– The numbers have only risen during the summer and autumn. That tells us these are not isolated cases. Executions are taking place over large areas and there are clear signs that they are part of a policy – there is evidence that instructions are being issued to do this.
Was able to identify his son by the underpants
Ukrainian prosecutors are investigating, among other things, a case from October last year in which nine captured Ukrainian soldiers were shot dead by Russian forces in the Kursk region.
A mother of one of the soldiers was able to identify her son by his underpants.
– I bought them for him before a holiday trip. I also knew he had been shot in the shoulder. You could see it in the picture, she told local channel Suspilne Chernihiv.
Investigating beheadings
The Ukrainians are also investigating cases of beheadings and arquebusings, and in one execution Russian soldiers are said to have used a sword.
Some of the executions have been filmed by Russian forces themselves, while others have been captured on video by Ukrainian drones.
The BBC has been able to verify several cases of executions including a beheading and further writes that the clips are relatively recent.
Vladimir Putin denies
Russian President Vladimir Putin claims that the country’s soldiers respect the laws of war, but there is no indication that they put themselves under investigation.
Ukrainian forces have also been accused of executing prisoners of war.
However, those accusations are much fewer in number.
It has been 1,033 days since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.