According to the Office of the Prosecutor General, the Russian military killed a Ukrainian prisoner of war close to the village of Rozdolne in the Volnovakha district of the Donetsk region.
The Prosecutors’ Office reported that on April 11, 2025, three soldiers from the Ukrainian Armed Forces were engaged in combat duties close to the village of Rozdilne within the Volnovakha region. They were taken captive during an attack carried out by Russian forces. Among those detained, one soldier who did not have arms was killed using machine guns by personnel from the invading nation’s armed forces.
Search and investigative efforts are presently ongoing to determine all aspects of the incident and to pinpoint which Russian service members were implicated in the criminal act.
Following the procedural guidelines set by the Donetsk Regional Prosecutor’s Office, an initial inquiry has commenced regarding a criminal case involving the perpetration of a war crime resulting in a fatality (Article 438, Part 2 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code).
“The execution of detainees constitutes a severe breach of the Geneva Conventions and classifies as a serious transgression under international law. The preliminary inquiry into this matter is currently underway, led by the Security Service of Ukraine within the Donetsk and Luhansk areas,” the statement read.
Lubinets’ reaction
The Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, also responded to the execution of the Ukrainian prisoner of war.
“I emphasize that this is a violation of the Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War, the norms of international humanitarian law, and constitutes a grave international crime! I have already sent letters to the UN and the ICRC. The actions and response of the international community must take place here and now,” Lubinets wrote.
He stressed that Russia’s crimes must be documented and those responsible must be held accountable.
Executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war
According to the Ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, last year, the execution of 109 Ukrainian prisoners of war by Russian forces was officially confirmed. In the previous years, a total of 177 cases of killings of Ukrainian servicemen by Russian troops were recorded.
In February of this year, a video surfaced online showing the execution of Ukrainian soldiers who had been captured by Russian forces in the Kursk region. The footage shows an occupier shooting a Ukrainian POW in the head.
In early March, Lubinets reported that the Russian military had likely killed at least five unarmed Ukrainian soldiers who had been taken captive.
