Law enforcement authorities are investigating 19 episodes of shootings of unarmed Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered to Russian forces during the Kursk operation. The cases involve at least 75 executed prisoners of war, the Prosecutor General’s Office told Slidstvo.Info.
This figure represents about one-quarter of the total number of Ukrainian prisoners of war executed since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, according to Slidstvo.Info’s investigation.
“According to the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations, there are 116 criminal proceedings for the murders and shootings of 306 prisoners of war,” said Taras Semkiv, head of the second department of the Prosecutor General’s Office unit for countering crimes committed under armed conflict conditions. “However, we recognize that these figures are latent, meaning many crimes occur under conditions that are not immediately apparent and are discovered later. In Kursk Oblast, we are talking about 19 episodes in which the executions of at least 75 people have been established.”
The prosecutor added that, as a result of these investigations, Ukrainian law enforcement has charged nine Russian service members. Prosecutors have sent indictments to court in seven cases, and five defendants have already received verdicts. Three of the convicted Russians are in Ukrainian captivity and were tried in regular proceedings: Dmitry Kurashov, Sergey Tuzhilov, and Vladimir Ivanov. The other two were tried in absentia, without the presence of the accused.
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Prosecutor Taras Semkiv stated that the executions of Ukrainian service members who laid down their weapons and surrendered represent a systemic policy promoted by the military-political leadership of the Russian Armed Forces.
“Most of these incidents resulted from corresponding commanders issuing orders to shoot prisoners of war from the Armed Forces of Ukraine — either immediately before the crime or ahead of certain combat operations. This is a systemic practice, and the numerous facts and circumstances of these crimes confirm it,” Semkiv said.
One Russian soldier, Dmitry Kondratyev — captured by Ukrainian special forces in Kursk Oblast — described a criminal order from his command during interrogation.
“They talked about taking Ukrainian soldiers prisoner, but only officers. We even asked: how do we recognize an officer from a distance? After all, we can’t tell. He (the commander — ed.) said: ‘You will understand,’” Kondratyev testified.
