UN accuses Russian and Ukrainian forces of carrying out summary executions of prisoners of war during Russian invasion of Ukraine, however Kiev considers it “unacceptable” to be sent back to back with its “aggressor” .
"We are deeply concerned by the summary execution of 25 Russian prisoners of war and persons hors de combat" as well as that of "15 Ukrainian prisoners of war", said Friday in Kiev Matilda Bogner, head of the monitoring mission United Nations human rights in Ukraine.
According to Bogner, the UN has documented executions of Russians by Ukrainian armed forces, "often 'perpetrated' "immediately after capture on the battlefield".
The UN knows that five investigations are carried out by Kyiv concerning 22 victims, but "we are not aware of any prosecution against the perpetrators" of these crimes, she added, presenting the report of the UN mission.
Regarding the executions of 15 Ukrainian prisoners of war "soon after their capture by the Russian armed forces", eleven of them were perpetrated by the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, the official said.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, Kyiv and Moscow have accused each other of mistreating prisoners, constituting war crimes.
In its report published on Friday, the United Nations human rights monitoring mission also points out that members of the Ukrainian armed forces had subjected Russian prisoners of war to death threats, mock executions or threats of sexual violence.
In several cases, the beatings were "retaliatory", according to the report.
"In some cases, officers beat prisoners of war saying This is for Boutcha," the mission said, referring to the town near Kiev where Russian forces have been accused of atrocities.
"Before the interrogation, they showed me an ax handle covered in blood as a warning," said a Russian POW quoted in the report, who says he was tortured with electric shocks.
The Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs denounced any attempt "to put the victim and the aggressor on the same level", judging "unacceptable to impute responsibility to the victim of an aggression".
The report also denounces the ill-treatment suffered by Ukrainian prisoners of war at the hands of Russian forces, including torture, denial of medical care which has sometimes resulted in death, sexual violence, denial of access to water and the food.
Ukrainian POWs have reported being tortured and ill-treated for information or as punishment. They said they were beaten with shovels, stabbed, electrically shocked and strangled.
"Some of them lost teeth or fingers, had their ribs, fingers or noses broken," the report said.
"They didn't just beat us, they broke us. They used their fists, their legs, batons, tasers. Some POWs had their arms or legs broken," a man quoted said in the document.
Ukrainian human rights envoy Dmytro Loubinets said he was "surprised" by the UN's accusations against Kiev, stressing on Telegram on Friday that he had not been informed in advance.
Without directly denying the violations attributed to the Ukrainian forces, he said he wanted to "know the facts and the indisputable arguments on which the conclusions of the UN report are based".
In early March, a video showing the alleged execution of a Ukrainian prisoner of war by Russian soldiers caused shock in Ukraine.
In November, the Kremlin was outraged by two videos showing the alleged execution of a dozen Russian soldiers who had just surrendered to Ukrainian forces.
25/03/2023 06:07:53 - Kiev (Ukraine) (AFP) © 2023 AFP
