The UN said on Friday that is “deeply concerned” for what he described as summary executions of prisoners of war allegedly carried out by Ukrainian and Russian forces as part of the conflict.
The head of the Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, Matilda Bognerpointed out that the organization it has documented killings on both sides.
“We are deeply concerned about the summary execution of up to 25 Russian prisoners of war and people outside the fighting by the Ukrainian armed forces, which we have documented,” Bogner told a news conference in the Ukrainian capital Kiev.
The UN official pointed out that in several cases, these executions they were perpetrated immediately after the capture on the battlefield.
“Although we are aware that the Ukrainian authorities are investigating five cases, We are not aware that the perpetrators have been prosecuted“, he added.
Bogner also expressed “deep” concern over the “summary execution of 15 Ukrainian prisoners of war shortly after being captured by Russian forces”.
The official said that the Russian mercenary group Wagner, which claims to be leading Russia’s offensive in the Ukrainian town of Bakhmut, where the fiercest battle of the war is being fought, is responsible for eleven of these deaths.
Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of mistreating prisoners of war since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion last year.