MENU
Documenting
war crimes in Ukraine

The Tribunal for Putin (T4P) global initiative was set up in response to the all-out war launched by Russia against Ukraine in February 2022.

Ukraine identifies Russian soldiers suspected of gunning down unarmed Ukrainian prisoners of war

21.06.2024   
Halya Coynash
There is also evidence that such appalling violations of international law have been committed under orders from military command
Four of the Russians identified, from left Abayev, Nagorny, Abutalimov, Imaganliev
Four of the Russians identified, from left Abayev, Nagorny, Abutalimov, Imaganliev

Ukraine’s Military Intelligence [HUR] has named Russian military believed to be guilty of killing four Ukrainian soldiers who had laid down their weapons and surrendered.  It is possible that the same soldiers were guilty of other such war crimes as Ukraine has intercepted evidence that at least one military commander ordered his subordinates to kill Ukrainian defenders, rather than taking them prisoner.

On 19 June, HUR posted footage, presumably from a drone, in which four unarmed Ukrainian defenders with their hands raised in surrender were forced to the ground and shot.  The men were killed in the middle of May 2024, near Robotyne (Zaporizhzhia oblast) by men from an assault unit of the 70th Motor Rifle Regiment under the command of Yury Mairbekovich Abayev (nom de guerre ‘Bison’, b. 10.12.1990).

As well as the commander, four other men are directly named as being involved in the killings: Captain Dmitry Olegovich Nagorny (b. 21.11.1995), commander of the second battalion; senior lieutenant Temirlan Umarovich Abutalimov (b. 02.05.1997), the commander of the first assault unit; lieutenant Zaur Sergeevich Bekov (b. 16.07.1997), commander of the third assault unit; and senior lieutenant Yusup Paizulaevich Imagazaliev (b. 18.07.1999), commander of the sixth assault unit.

Since HUR intercepted a radio message in which the commander of one of the 70th Motor Rifle Regiment’s assault units issued orders to kill Ukrainian defenders, rather than taking them prisoner, it is possible that the same men were involved in the killing of other Ukrainian soldiers later in May. 

News of these killings came just a day after Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin reported that a Ukrainian Armed Forces armed vehicle had been located in Donetsk oblast, with the decapitated head of a Ukrainian soldier on it [details here].

Kostin has since explained that 28 cases involving the killing of 62 Ukrainian prisoners of war are currently under investigation.  It is of particular importance, he said, that Ukraine has found evidence that the Russian invaders who are committing such crimes are acting on orders.  While this does not, of course, absolve those who carried out the orders of responsibility for such acts, it confirm that the killing and torture of prisoners of war and civilian hostages are “the planned strategy of the aggressor state.”

Of the cases presently under investigation, Kostin explained, four individuals have been informed of charges, while the criminal investigation in the case of two others has been completed and the indictment sent to the court.  One person has been convicted.  It is unknown whether any of these individuals are actually in custody, but such criminal investigations and trials are, in any case, important.

Kostin noted that Ukraine’s international partners had reacted strongly to the news that a Ukrainian POW had been beheaded, and expressed the hope that such outrage would be converted into real steps to put pressure on Russia and ensure that those guilty of international crimes are held to account. 

As reported, it is not only Ukrainian bodies which have identified such violations by Russia of international law.  In March, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights reported “widespread and routine” torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war.  During its latest reporting period (from December 2023 to February 2024) one prisoner of war had died as the result of the torture he had been subjected to and the lack of medical care, and at least 32 summary executions of Ukrainian POWs by the invaders had been recorded [details here] 

At the beginning of May 2024, Human Rights Watch reported that Russian forces appeared to have “executed at least 15 Ukrainian soldiers as they attempted to surrender, and possibly six more who were surrendering or who had surrendered, since early December 2023”.  The international human rights NGO stressed that these killings should be investigated as war crimes.

 Share this