Russian forces have reportedly executed 16 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) in Donetsk Oblast, marking the largest mass killing of surrendered Ukrainian soldiers since the start of the war. Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office confirmed on October 1 that the POWs were killed after surrendering on the front line near Pokrovsk.
Evidence of the mass execution surfaced earlier in the day on social media, sparking outrage and prompting a formal investigation.
Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin condemned the killings, calling the execution a “cynical and gross violation of the Geneva Conventions,” which explicitly protect prisoners of war from violence, mistreatment, and summary executions.
“This is the most massive known case of execution of Ukrainian POWs on the front line,” Kostin said in an official statement.
He added that the killings were not isolated incidents but part of a broader, systematic policy carried out by Russian military and political leadership.
“The murders and torture of prisoners are not an accident, but a purposeful policy of the Russian military and political leadership,” Kostin declared, underscoring previous accusations of war crimes committed by Russian forces in the ongoing war.
The Prosecutor General’s Office is now working to verify the authenticity of the evidence circulating online and to investigate the circumstances surrounding the killings.
