The United Nations has accused Russian and Ukrainian armed troops of torturing and murdering war captives over the last year. The United Nations has expressed concern that such practices would constitute war crimes.
An OHCHR investigation found that both Russia and Ukraine had unlawfully executed detained combatants, in violation of many international human rights laws and military conventions.
According to the OHCHR, at least 25 Russian prisoners of war (POWs) were summarily executed by Ukrainian forces.
Such incidents “amount to gross violations of [international human rights law] and serious violations of [international humanitarian law] that could be considered war crimes,” the report states.
The UN group continued by saying that out of the 31 transit or permanent camps maintained by the Ukrainian government, they had uncovered evidence of terrible treatment of POWs in eight of them. From March to May of 2022, they investigated a jail in Dnipro and discovered evidence of torture and other harsh treatment of Russian detainees, including so-called “welcome beatings.”
The OHCHR claims that they were granted “full and confidential access” by the Ukrainian authorities to the facilities housing war detainees. However, the Russian government declined to follow suit.
The United Nations claimed to have evidence that 15 Ukrainian prisoners of war were executed by the Russian military, the Wagner Group, or other contracting parties, based on their investigations, which included speaking with newly released Ukrainian POWs in Russian custody.
They also claimed there was evidence of torture being used to get information and that two wounded detainees had died from lack of medical attention.
A video that went viral on social media in July of 2017 was also discussed in the research. That footage showed a Russian solider apparently shooting a man in a Ukrainian military uniform after he had his testicles severed.
The United Nations said they were unable to identify the individual in the video but that “the event doesn’t look like a set-up and would clearly be torture, including sexual violence, and murder.”
Also deemed “highly likely real” was a November series of videos that appeared to show hundreds of Russian POWs being executed fast by Ukrainian soldiers.
According to the study, all sides were guilty of torturing and otherwise mistreating POWs, however the Ukrainians were more frequently targeted. Nine out of 10 interviewees reported being tortured or otherwise mistreated while this was true for only around half of Russian inmates.
“We are very worried that up to 25 Russian prisoners of war and people who were forced to fight by Ukrainian forces were killed without trial,” said Matilda Bogner, head of the UN monitoring mission.
“We are also very worried about the fact that 15 Ukrainian prisoners of war were killed shortly after being captured by Russian forces,” Bogner added, referring to concerns over the treatment of captured Ukrainian soldiers. Eleven of these murders were committed by members of the Wagner Group, a private military and security firm.
Despite Western acclaim, Ukrainians have been accused of war crimes by Amnesty International. By establishing military outposts in civilian areas like schools and hospitals, as well as firing strikes from densely populated civilian neighborhoods, they were believed to be endangering the lives of innocent people and encouraging the Russians to continue their offensive.
President Volodymyr Zelensky slammed Amnesty International’s conclusions, claiming the organization was “playing into Russia’s hands” by assigning blame to Ukraine.
It was humiliating that Amnesty International reversed course and issued an apology just a few days later. “deeply regrets the distress and anger that our press release on the fighting tactics of the Ukrainian military has caused,” the organization said in a statement.