Law enforcement has identified 13 out of 16 soldiers who were executed while surrendering in the Pokrovske direction, according to Yuriy Belousov, head of the War Department of the Prosecutor General's Office.
"Regarding the recent cases, we are working on the execution of 16 soldiers and have identified 13 of them. The identities of the remaining three are still being confirmed, as there is no access to their military unit," Belousov stated.
He added that the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) has identified the Russian unit potentially responsible for the execution of the 16 Ukrainian soldiers.
Bielousov also commented on the execution of nine Ukrainian soldiers in Russia’s Kursk region on October 10:
"We know who these soldiers are. The details of their execution are being clarified. We have identified the location in Kursk where this occurred and are investigating two Russian units that may have been involved."
He noted that over the past year, there has been an increase in executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war, and conditions in Russian detention facilities have significantly worsened, likely due to orders from higher authorities. Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, had previously called for the execution of Ukrainian POWs on his Telegram channel.
In Ukraine, a special unit within the SSU is investigating the cruel treatment and execution of POWs, with 102 such cases recorded so far.
Regarding the return of the bodies of executed Ukrainian soldiers, Belousov said,
"The military is doing everything possible to recover the bodies of their comrades."
The Coordination Headquarters for the Return of POWs and a special SSU unit are also involved in the process.
