KYIV: Ukraine’s human rights commissioner urged the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the United Nations to investigate an image widely shared online on Saturday that he said likely showed a Ukrainian prisoner-of-war killed and dismembered by Russian forces.
Ukraine’s prosecutor general said separately that an urgent investigation had been launched into information being spread on social networks about the murder and dismemberment of a Ukrainian POW.
“A photograph, probably of a Ukrainian prisoner whose head and limbs were cut off by the Russians, has appeared online,” Dmytro Lubinets, the country’s leading human rights official, said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.
“In view of these horrific images, I have urgently appealed to the ICRC and the UN to record yet another human rights violation by the terrorist country,” Lubinets wrote.
Andriy Kostin, the prosecutor general, said an urgent investigation had been launched. “Russia consistently repeats the crimes of the Nazis, defiantly showing utter contempt for all norms of the civilized world,” he wrote on Telegram.
Russia denies torture or other forms of maltreatment of POWs.
A United Nations commission of inquiry on Ukraine said in a report published in March that it had documented credible allegations of executions of at least 32 Ukrainian POWs in 12 separate incidents from December 2023 to February, and that it had independently verified three of the incidents.
The three-member Commission of Inquiry said it had also gathered more evidence that Russia had systematically tortured Ukrainian POWs, documenting rape threats and the use of electric shocks on genitals.
It said the scale of such torture cases may amount to the most serious abuses known as crimes against humanity, describing their occurrence as “widespread and systematic.”
Ukraine accuses Russian forces of killing, dismembering prisoner-of-war
https://arab.news/8r7ke
Ukraine accuses Russian forces of killing, dismembering prisoner-of-war
- A UN inquiry said in a report published in March that it had documented credible allegations of executions of at least 32 Ukrainian POWs
- Russia denies torture or other forms of maltreatment of POWs
Putin calls for immediate halt to Iran conflict
- Vladimir Putin in constant contact with the leaders of Gulf Cooperation Council member states
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences to Iran’s president over the numerous civilian casualties resulting from “the armed Israeli-American aggression against Iran” and called for an immediate halt to hostilities, the Kremlin said.
In a phone call late on Friday with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Putin expressed his deep condolences over the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, members of Khamenei’s family, Iranian political and military leaders and “numerous civilians.”
“Vladimir Putin reaffirmed Russia’s principled stance in favor of an immediate cessation of hostilities, the rejection of force as a method to solve any issues surrounding Iran or arising in the Middle East, and a swift return to the path of diplomatic resolution,” the Kremlin said.
Putin said he was in constant contact with the leaders of Gulf Cooperation Council member states.
“Masoud Pezeshkian expressed gratitude for Russia’s solidarity with the Iranian people as they defend their sovereignty and the independence of their country. He also provided a detailed update on the developments during the latest active phase of the conflict,” the Kremlin said.
