Ukraine rights envoy urges response to alleged execution of captured troops

International organizations have been urged by Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman to respond to claims that several Ukrainian prisoners of war were put to death in the Kursk region of Russia.

DeepState, a Ukrainian battlefield analysis site close to Ukraine’s Defence Ministry, said that Russian troops killed nine Ukrainian “drone operators and contractors” on October 10 after they had surrendered.

Dmytro Lubinets argued on Sunday that the world “must not turn a blind eye” to the alleged executions.

The ombudsman described the incident as “an additional crime committed by the Russians,” and stated on Telegram that he had written letters to the UN and the International Red Cross in response.

Andriy Kostin, the attorney-general of Ukraine, added that his office had opened a criminal investigation into the alleged execution and that killing war prisoners was a “gross violation” of the Geneva Convention.

On X, Kostin wrote, “We are doing our utmost to find and prosecute all those responsible for the aggressor’s crimes against Ukraine and Ukrainians.”

Russian officials didn’t respond to the allegations right away.

Following the surprise attack by Ukrainian forces across the border on August 6, Russian and Ukrainian troops are engaged in trade attacks in the Kursk region.

In early September, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his forces controlled more than 1, 300sq km (500sq miles) of Kursk.

However, last week, Russia said its forces had taken back several villages from Ukrainian forces.

Russian forces used glide bombs against Ukrainian troops in western Kursk, according to the Russian defense ministry’s statement on Sunday.

The ministry claimed that the attack targeted a “strongpoint and concentration of Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel.”

Separately, the Ukrainian Air Force said its air defences shot down 31 of 68 drones launched by Russia overnight in the regions of Kyiv, Poltava, Chernihiv, Sumy and Cherkasy.

Over the past week, Zelenskyy said Russia launched about 900 guided aerial bombs, more than 40 missiles and 400 drones against Ukraine.