KYIV
\nUkraine is probing allegations the Russian army shot dead 16 prisoners of war near the eastern city of Pokrovsk, Kyiv\u2019s prosecutor general said Tuesday.
\nRussia and Ukraine have repeatedly accused each other of killing POWs since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
\n\u201cThis is the largest known case of the execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war on the front line,\u201d Ukrainian prosecutor general Andriy Kostin said in a statement.
\nKostin said the alleged incident showed that the \u201ckilling and torture of prisoners is not an accident but a deliberate policy of the Russian military and political leadership.\u201d
\nThe probe \u2014 into allegations of the \u201cviolation of laws and customs of war\u201d and \u201cpremeditated murder\u201d \u2014 was launched based on videos shared on social media that appeared to show the execution of Ukrainian soldiers, Kostin said.
\nVideo images captured by a drone showed captured Ukrainian troops, under Russian control, coming out from a wooded area and lining up, Ukraine\u2019s prosecutors said.
\nThe Russians then \u201cdeliberately opened fire with deadly force,\u201d Kyiv said.
\nThose still showing \u201csigns of life\u201d were then \u201cfinished off at close range with automatic fire.\u201d AFP could not independently verify the reports. The Ukrainian prosecutor\u2019s office said Tuesday that \u201cmeasures are currently being taken to verify the published material.\u201d
\nThe alleged incident was reported to have taken place close to the villages of Sukhiyi Yar and Mykolayivka near Pokrovsk, a strategic hub that Russia is trying to capture.
\nIt is the latest allegation of POWs being killed during the conflict.
\nIn March 2023 a video showing an imprisoned Ukrainian soldier shouting \u201cGlory to Ukraine!\u201d moments before being executed by shooting squad, went viral.
\nThe UN has documented \u201cnumerous violations of international humanitarian law against prisoners of war, including cases of summary execution of both Russian and Ukrainian POWs,\u201d a spokeswoman for the UN Human Rights Office told AFP last year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KYIV Ukraine is probing allegations the Russian army shot dead 16 prisoners of war near the eastern city of Pokrovsk, Kyiv\u2019s prosecutor general said Tuesday. Russia and Ukraine have repeatedly accused each other of killing POWs since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. \u201cThis is the largest known case of the execution […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":434977,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-434961","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n