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’s 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.
