Marta Gichko08:47, 05.04.25

Ukrainian military personnel say that the worst feeling at this moment is helplessness.

Russia is demonstratively executing Ukrainian prisoners , realizing that these war crimes are being recorded by drones in real time, writes  The New York Times.

Ukrainian military personnel are recording the executions of their comrades almost live thanks to drones filming events from the battlefield. According to them, the drone footage leaves no doubt that the executions are systematic.

One such video, filmed last fall, shows Russian soldiers shooting two Ukrainians at close range near the village of Novoivanivka in Kursk Oblast. The drone captured the entire incident live. 

A 26-year-old pilot with the call sign “One Two” who serves in the 15th Mobile Border Detachment said:

“There were no polite words between us – we were filled with rage and a strong desire for revenge.”

As the United States leans toward a ceasefire and considers reviewing its support for Ukraine, more and more Ukrainians fear that Russia’s war crimes could go unpunished. President Trump has already said he wants to mend ties with Russia and cut aid to Ukraine.

Meanwhile, the US recently withdrew from an international group investigating war crimes committed by top Russian officials, and funding for an initiative to track down abducted Ukrainian children has also been cut.

While both sides are sometimes accused of war crimes, Russia faces far more accusations — both from Ukraine and from international organizations, including the UN. According to human rights activists, Russian troops often simply execute Ukrainian soldiers who surrender instead of taking them prisoner, in violation of the Geneva Convention.

A campaign of deliberate assassination

The Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights of Ukraine said in December that at least 177 Ukrainian prisoners of war had been executed since the beginning of the invasion, 109 of them in 2024 alone. According to an assessment by the consulting company Molfar, the Russians have killed another 25 prisoners since then. 

“This may be one of the largest campaigns of deliberate killing of prisoners of war in modern history,” said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga.

Moscow has traditionally denied all accusations of war crimes. The Russian Defense Ministry did not comment on requests for comment on the incidents.

According to five Ukrainian drone pilots, such footage has become almost commonplace: their comrades surrender and are then killed. Videos of executions regularly appear on Telegram. Some of them are posted by the Russian military themselves, not hiding anything and even commenting on the killings on camera.

“One is mine,” said one Russian in the video.

“Fuck me, get on camera,” added another.

A Ukrainian soldier appears in the frame. He is lying on the ground, his further fate unknown. 

In the released footage, the dead wore yellow armbands typical of Ukrainian soldiers. Open source researchers, as well as the Financial Times, later identified one of the war criminals as Russian Oleg Yakovlev.

According to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission, at least 91 cases of killing of Ukrainian prisoners of war have been documented in 29 incidents since August. One of these occurred in front of “One Two”. The head of the mission, Danielle Bell, stated:

“It’s terrible. And these are just the cases that we have assessed as credible.”

Analysts suggest the outbreak of violence could be a response to the Ukrainian breakthrough at Kursk in August. Some suggest the Russians are trying to intimidate future Ukrainian recruits and demoralize their own soldiers so they won’t surrender.

Interrogations of captured Russian soldiers show that they were often ordered to kill prisoners even after they surrendered and laid down their weapons. In one video, a captured Russian says:

“Apparently, the Ukrainians began to flee after hearing the command to open fire on the radio. And fire was opened on them.”

In March, photos of Ukrainian prisoners of war with their hands tied appeared. Later, new footage appeared showing them already dead, three of them with gunshot wounds to the back of the head.

“Without hesitation”

Some analysts believe that such actions are sanctioned at the highest level. In July, after a video emerged of a Ukrainian fighter shooting a Russian, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev wrote on Telegram: “Execute, execute, execute.”

The Institute for the Study of War noted in October that Russian commanders likely condoned, encouraged, or directly ordered the execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war.

According to Ukrainian pilots, they often watch silently as the Russians target their comrades, unable to intervene. One of the commanders, call sign “Madara”, spoke about the execution of four prisoners near Chasovy Yar:

“Without hesitation, he (the occupier – UNIAN) executed them all.”

Another case is a video of four wounded Ukrainians coming out of shelter. The Russians take their weapons away, and then shoot three of them. This was witnessed by a soldier from the 110th brigade with the call sign “Grandfather.”

“The worst thing was the helplessness – we couldn’t do anything to help our people.”

On November 11, after another execution, Ukrainian commanders ordered drone pilots to retaliate. One drone spotted five Russians — two killers and three witnesses — and transmitted their coordinates. Ten more drones surrounded them. 

Then, as “One Two” recounted, the drones opened fire. All five Russians were killed.

(C)UNIAN 2025