Ukraine accuses the Russian army of executing at least 270 prisoners of war / thousands of people are still in captivity
The General Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine accused the Russian army on Friday of executing approximately 270 prisoners of Ukrainian war prisoners since the beginning of the invasion in February 2022, claiming that this was the result of the “orders” received from Russian responsible.
The announcement occurs in the context in which Russia and Ukraine started a major exchange of prisoners on Friday to continue in the coming days, a result of negotiations between the two countries last week in Istanbul, AFP and Agerpres reports.
The Ukrainian parquet said that the number of captive soldiers that were executed by the Russian army increased vertiginously from 2024.
The authority stated that he has reviewed 57 cases in 2022, 11 in 2023, then 149 in 2024 and 51 from the beginning of 2025.
“This growth is related to the orders given to the army by the Russian political and military leaders,” the Prosecutor's Office said.
Two new cases of investigated execution
Subsequently, the Ukrainian Prosecutor's Office announced in a separate statement that it has opened an investigation into two new cases of execution.
According to the prosecutor's office, Russian troops launched an assault on an Ukrainian position near the village of Udachne on East the country on Thursday morning.
Of the four Ukrainian soldiers on the spot, two were captured and shot dead in an wooded area, while the fate of the other two remains unknown, the parquet added.
Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of killing war prisoners since the beginning of the Russian invasion.
However, the UN Mission to monitor human rights in Ukraine denounced in February a “accentuated increase in the number of executions reported by Ukrainian soldiers captured by the Russian armed forces.”
Since the end of August 2024, the mission has registered 79 such executions in 24 separate incidents.
On the Ukrainian side, the mission documented the execution by Kiev troops of a wounded Russian soldier and unable to defend himself.
The biggest prisoners' shift in 2014
Ukraine and Russia began on Friday the largest exchange of prisoners of war since the beginning of the Russian aggression on the neighboring country in 2014.
President Volodimir Zelenski announced that Ukraine recovered 390 people from Russian captivity, in the first stage of an exchange after Formula 1,000 for 1,000 agreed with Russia a week ago in Istanbul. Zelenski said that this exchange is expected to continue on Saturday and Sunday.
The Ukrainian authorities indicated that among the prisoners recovered by this exchange are marine prisoners, soldiers from the aepurted forces and territorial defense, as well as from the National Guard and the Border Police.
390 Our Soldiers at Home.
Among Them is the Defenders of the Kherson Region.
Saturday and Sunday Continue the Exchange.
Glory to Ukraine and Its Soldiers! pic.twitter.com/kvo5vgjyyp– Ukraine front line (@euromaidanpr) May 23, 2025
On his side, Moscow has announced that he has recovered 270 soldiers and 120 civilians, including “inhabitants of the Kursk region captured by the Ukrainian armed forces” during their 2024 summer offensive.
The exchange of prisoners and bodies of the soldiers killed in the fight remains one of the last areas of cooperation between Kiev and Moscow, while Russia occupies about 20% of the Ukrainian territory.
Previously, US President Donald Trump had greeted this major exchange of prisoners between Ukraine and Russia.
How many prisoners of war are still in captivity
After more than three years of fighting, thousands of prisoners of war are held by both countries, but their exact number is not known.
“We have the confirmation that nearly 10,000 people are in captivity” in the hands of the Russians, said the Ukrainian commissioner for missing people, Artur Dobroserdov.
Russia offers very little information about the fate of Ukrainian prisoners and each exchange reserves many surprises, a high Ukrainian official told AFP, under the condition of anonymity.
At the same time, Kiev and Moscow accuse each other of violating the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war, according to the French Press Agency.
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