“Take no prisoners, shoot everyone.” Russia executed Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered

Human Rights Watch demands investigation into potential war crimes

The organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Russia of executing, since the beginning of December, at least 15 Ukrainian soldiers who tried to surrender and demanded an investigation into potential war crimes.

In a report, the human rights non-governmental organization (NGO) added that it had received reports that Russian forces had also executed another six Ukrainian soldiers who were surrendering or who had already surrendered.

“Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, forces [russas] committed many heinous war crimes,” HRW Director of Crisis and Conflict Belkis Wille said in a statement.

“The summary execution – or murder – of surrendered and wounded Ukrainian soldiers, shot dead in cold blood, expressly prohibited by international humanitarian law, is also included in this shameful legacy,” Wille added.

HRW recalled that, in March 2023, a United Nations mission accused the Russian armed forces and the Russian paramilitary group Wagner of executing 15 Ukrainian prisoners of war.

In another report, released last March, the United Nations mentioned the execution by Russian forces of at least 32 prisoners of war or Ukrainian soldiers who had already surrendered.

“While each of these cases is horrific, perhaps most damning is the evidence indicating that, in at least one case, Russian forces gave explicit orders to kill soldiers rather than allow them to surrender, thereby supporting war crimes,” said Belkis Wille.

The HRW report stated that, according to videos captured by Russian military drones and published online in February, a leader gave the following order to Russian soldiers in the Donetsk region: “do not take prisoners, shoot everyone”.

The Russian military offensive on Ukrainian territory, launched on February 24, 2022, plunged Europe into what is considered the most serious security crisis since the Second World War (1939-1945).

Recent months have been marked by large-scale Russian airstrikes against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, while Kiev’s forces have targeted targets on Russian territory close to the border and on the Crimean peninsula, illegally annexed in 2014.

Already in the third year of war, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been faced with a lack of weapons and ammunition, despite repeated promises of help from Western allies.