"The battalion had a queue for soldiers who wanted to shoot prisoners." How Russia executes Ukrainian soldiers
A record number of executions of Ukrainian soldiers captured by the Russians was recorded by the Office of the Prosecutor General last year. It investigated just two cases, involving the executions of five servicemen from the Armed Forces of Ukraine, between the start of the Russo-Ukrainian war in 2014 and 24 February 2024. But between 24 February and the end of that year, 54 criminal proceedings were opened with respect to the execution of 143 Ukrainian prisoners of war.
Russian propaganda alleges that the videos of Ukrainian soldiers being executed after surrendering were created by a "Ukrainian Hollywood". Obviously the Russians deny any involvement by their soldiers, particularly the command, in these cases. They also try to convince people that videos like these are being created to discourage Ukrainians from surrendering.
In preparation for this article, Ukrainska Pravda analysed more than 10,000 Russian propaganda Telegram posts published between August 2024, when Ukraine’s Armed Forces launched the Kursk operation, and November 2024. We obtained the posts from the Ukraine War Archive.
We have collected evidence of individual Russian commanders issuing orders to execute Ukrainian prisoners of war. We also spoke to soldiers and human rights activists about whether these crimes are committed with the command's approval.
"Ukrainian Hollywood"
A dead Ukrainian soldier is lying on his back in the middle of the road, on the asphalt, next to a pedestrian crossing. Behind him is a house with smashed windows and some beaten-up military equipment. A sword is stuck in the soldier's body. Written on the blade in marker pen are the words "For Kursk". Remnants of adhesive tape are visible on the soldier's hands – he was killed after being captured. The sword is a souvenir copy of a weapon from the Dragon Age video game: in the story, it is a symbol of darkness.
This is a description of a photograph taken on the Pokrovsk front in September 2024. The Russian Telegram channel Rusich was one of the first to publish the image. The Rusich Telegram channel is linked to the far-right organisation and paramilitary group of the same name. Ukraine’s Centre for Strategic Communication and Information Security has reported that this organisation is affiliated with the Russian secret services. The Rusich Telegram channel has also called for Ukrainian prisoners of war to be handed over "for sacrifice".
Of all the Russian Telegram channels analysed by UP, Rusich's posts contain some of the most radical and direct statements calling for the execution of Ukrainian soldiers.
The increase in videos of Ukrainian soldiers being executed coincided with the start of the Kursk operation on 6 August 2024. Such evidence generally reaches us by accident when it is filmed by Ukrainian drones, but it can also be disseminated by the Russians themselves.
At the same time, Russian propaganda launched a new wave of disinformation about the war crimes Ukrainians had allegedly committed on Russian territory: killing civilians, firing on evacuation convoys, and looting. As evidence, they cited videos in which it is not possible to identify either involvement by Ukraine’s defence forces or the potential victims. The facts or testimonies cited by the Russians contradict the laws of common sense.
For example, one of the stories that was widely circulated in August 2024 (with at least 15 identical posts on propaganda Telegram channels) was about a civilian woman who asked to be called Tyotya Zoya (Auntie Zoya). Russian propagandists present this narrative with the following intro: "It’s impossible to remain calm when you hear her story. It hits hard. This is very helpful for anyone who still doubts the necessity of eliminating the Ukrainian regime."
The story they present is about representatives of Ukraine’s defence forces who allegedly committed "atrocities" in Kursk Oblast. The woman accuses Georgian and Polish "mercenaries" of the potential crimes. Representatives of the Georgian Legion have indeed taken part in the fighting in Kursk Oblast, but there is no evidence that Poles have been involved in the Kursk operation.
Another striking example of disinformation dates back to September 2024. The propaganda channel RT published a "confession" by a man they claimed was a "Ukrainian paratrooper". The man himself had obvious injuries.
On camera, he claimed to have received orders from his command not only to execute Russian prisoners of war but also to attack a civilian train. The latter operation was allegedly necessary so that Russia would "withdraw from Special Military Operation mode and openly declare war on Ukraine".
We asked Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemen who are or have been in Kursk Oblast, on condition of anonymity, whether they had ever heard or received orders from their command to harm civilians. All of them said no.
Not only that, they said their commanders had reminded them of the need to comply with the Geneva Conventions. Ukrainian commanders may have given such warnings in order to preserve Ukraine's image internationally and avoid the commission of war crimes, which are punishable under Ukrainian law and the Rome Statute.
In September 2024, CNN posted a story that included footage of the execution of Ukrainian soldiers on the Pokrovsk and Zaporizhzhia fronts. Russian Telegram channels spread the message that the footage had been staged, falling back once again on their "Ukrainian Hollywood" mantra. The propagandists seek to persuade their readers that Ukraine is deliberately filming these videos to dehumanise Russians, prevent desertions in their ranks, and secure more help from Western partners.
Meanwhile, since late August 2024 the prosecutor's office of the so-called DPR (the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic) has been publicising the verdicts handed down to members of Ukraine’s defence forces and Ukrainian civilians held in Russian captivity. The prisoners are accused of "espionage" and "brutal murders" of civilians. Most of the "crimes", according to Russian propaganda channels, took place in 2022.
For example, in August 2024, a court in occupied Donetsk sentenced Oleh Plotnikov, a soldier from the 36th Separate Marine Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, to 22 years in prison. Plotnikov joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 2014 and received the Order For Courage, third class, in 2016. According to the Russians, Plotnikov gave the order to fire on a car carrying three men. One of them allegedly sustained injuries as a result, while the other two survived and escaped.
The counter-terrorism operation
The wave of disinformation aimed at discrediting the defence forces supported Russia’s imposition of a counter-terrorist operation (CTO) regime in its Kursk, Bryansk and Belgorod oblasts on 10 August.
Under Russian law, in such cases the Federal Security Service (FSB) is responsible for monitoring the situation and it may bring in the police, military, or emergency workers. The CTO regime means that the Russian secret services have full access to communications and information exchange; representatives of special groups may enter any premises; and, most importantly, may capture or kill anyone Russia believes to be carrying out terrorist activities.
By introducing the CTO, the Kremlin has effectively given its military carte blanche to treat Ukrainian soldiers and civilians who have cooperated with Ukraine’s defence forces the way the Russians did during the second Chechen war.
The imposition of the CTO is evidence that on Russia’s western borders at least, Russian soldiers who are under FSB oversight may have been ordered not to take Ukrainian soldiers prisoner. Under Russian law, Alexander Bortnikov, the head of the FSB, is responsible for introducing the CTO.
The launch of the CTO was not much discussed on Russian propaganda channels. However, among the messages that there are, the most noteworthy are calls by Russian politician Sergei Mironov to impose the CTO in all the territories temporarily occupied by Russia.
Russian opposition media outlets that covered the imposition of the CTO, such as Meduza and Current Time, focused on reminding the residents of those territories of their obligations and how to evacuate.
The Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine says that as of the end of 2024, five of the proceedings opened are criminal cases with respect to the execution of Ukrainian soldiers who had surrendered to Russia in Kursk and Belgorod oblasts.
"The Russians have always done this," Vitalii, a Ukrainian serviceman currently in Kursk Oblast, told Ukrainska Pravda. "The fact that evidence of executions has begun to appear in the media is an accident and pure luck. We know perfectly well what the Russians are like and what they do. Unfortunately we can’t do the same, because every Russian captured is a Ukrainian soldier potentially exchanged."
Vitalii assured us that the fact that Russian commanders may have given orders not to take prisoners has not affected Ukrainian soldiers’ morale.
Under international humanitarian law (IHL), the Kursk operation is part of the international armed conflict that Russia initiated against Ukraine. So there are no legal differences between the fighting in Kursk Oblast and on the other fronts. Kateryna Rashevska, an expert on international justice and legal analysis at the Regional Center for Human Rights, draws attention to this.
"IHL does not define or regulate the status of a terrorist, although it does prohibit the use of terror as a method of warfare and intimidation of the civilian population," Rashevska notes. "Many international conventions and protocols on prevention and counter-terrorism contain warnings that they do not apply to actions of armed forces during an armed conflict regulated by IHL.
Meanwhile Russia will continue, in breach of international law, to prosecute Ukrainian soldiers for their participation in the armed conflict and to categorise such actions as terrorism."
A crime against humanity
While working on this article, we were able to find evidence of Russian commanders giving orders to execute prisoners of war.
Silver, a soldier from the Freedom of Russia Legion (a Ukrainian-based paramilitary unit of Russian citizens who oppose the Putin regime and its invasion of Ukraine), agreed to talk to us on the record. Silver served for several months in Russia’s Storm-Z Battalion. Later, with the help of the Ukrainian national project "Hochu zhit" (I Want To Live), which enables Russian soldiers to surrender, he crossed the border into Ukraine and has been fighting with the Armed Forces of Ukraine since summer 2024.
Silver said that not only did the Storm-Z Battalion tolerate violations of war crimes, soldiers who wanted to execute Ukrainian soldiers could join a queue to do so.
"Perhaps some people don’t approve of executions, de facto murders, but there will always be people who are ready to do it. There are commanders who’ll say: ‘If you don't follow orders, I’ll f**king shoot you under martial law.’
There was a group in my division that was prepared to do it [carry out executions]. It was sort of like a hobby to them: they had a queue of who’d be next to execute someone [a Ukrainian soldier]".
Silver said Russian soldiers were ordered to execute their own comrades as well as Ukrainians. After all, it’s easier to write that someone was blown up on a projectile than to fill out a bunch of documents because, say, they refused to follow orders.
"The orders for execution in my unit were given directly by the commander of the assault group, a major who was later promoted to lieutenant colonel. Everything that happened without his permission was a screw-up. I stayed there for three months, and during that time, he officially gave the order for execution six times," Silver says.
Silver says he was not involved in carrying out such orders.
"If such facts are widespread or systematic or aimed against the civilian population, then this is a crime against humanity under Article 7 of the Statute of the International Criminal Court," Philippe Sands told Ukrainska Pravda. Sands is a lawyer who has been involved in international court hearings such as the cases of Pinochet, Guantanamo, and war criminals who took part in armed conflicts in the Congo, Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Iraq.
Kateryna Rashevska agrees. She emphasises that the premeditated murder of a prisoner of war is a war crime regardless of whether Russia unilaterally introduced any regimes in its national legislation. If the crime is proven, it is punishable by 10-15 years’ or life imprisonment under the Rome Statute.
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The analysis of propaganda materials, the increase in the number of recorded cases of Ukrainian soldiers being executed, the testimony of a serviceman from the Freedom of Russia Legion and the imposition of a CTO regime in Russia’s border regions prove that unfortunately, the execution of soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is not an occasional practice by individual Russian servicemen.
It is a trend. And the executions take place with the approval of the Russian command at various levels.
These murders clearly supplement the cases that relate to top Russian officials. And in the future, they may serve as grounds for issuing warrants for their arrest and administering a just punishment.
Author: Sofiia Cheliak, for Ukrainska Pravda
Translation: Yuliia Kravchenko and Yelyzaveta Khodatska
Editing: Teresa Pearce