Ukrainian Security Service charges captured Russian soldier with executing POWs
Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) has charged a captured Russian marine with war crimes for allegedly executing two unarmed Ukrainian prisoners of war during combat operations earlier this year in northeastern Ukraine, according to an official statement issued May 28.
According to the SBU, the soldier, a rifleman with Russia's 40th Separate Marine Brigade, participated in the point-blank shooting of two detained Ukrainian servicemen on Jan. 9 near Kursk. The executions reportedly occurred after a Russian sabotage-reconnaissance group seized a front-line position held by Ukrainian forces.
The SBU alleges the Russian fighters led the two captured soldiers into open ground before shooting them in the back with automatic rifles, killing both instantly.
Just two days later, the same Russian unit came under attack by Ukraine's Special Operations Forces. Ukrainian troops reportedly partially destroyed the unit, capturing the accused marine during a firefight. Investigators say he initially attempted to conceal his role in the killings but was later implicated through evidence collected by the SBU and military counterintelligence.
He has been formally charged under Ukraine's Criminal Code with war crimes including violations of the Geneva Convention concerning the treatment of prisoners of war. If convicted, he faces life imprisonment.
The case adds to mounting evidence of systemic war crimes committed against Ukrainian prisoners of war by Russian forces — a pattern confirmed by both Ukrainian authorities and international bodies.
At least 206 of the 5,000 Ukrainian POWs repatriated since Russia's full-scale invasion died in captivity, according to data published by Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War. In many of these cases, Ukrainian soldiers were tortured, executed, or killed under suspicious circumstances while in Russian custody.
Investigations by Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office are underway into the execution of 268 Ukrainian POWs. The U.N. and human rights groups have recorded dozens of these cases, highlighting incidents in which Russian troops received direct orders to kill surrendered soldiers — a violation of international humanitarian law.
One of the most notorious cases occurred in July 2022, when a Russian missile strike on the Olenivka POW camp in occupied Donetsk Oblast killed over 50 Ukrainian soldiers, most of them members of the Azov Regiment. Independent investigations later suggested Russia deliberately targeted the building with a thermobaric weapon after relocating the prisoners to a specific section of the facility.
In a March 2025 report, the U.N. Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine confirmed growing numbers of executions of Ukrainian POWs by Russian forces, labeling the killings part of a deliberate and coordinated campaign.
Read also: Russian soldiers executed 3 unarmed Ukrainian POWs in Donetsk Oblast, prosecutors say
We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
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