According to the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada, Dmytro Lubinets, the killing of Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) is a deliberate tactic of the russians aimed at intimidating their own soldiers, as well as at changing the international legal order in the world.
He stated this in a comment to a correspondent of Radio Svoboda.
"The russians do this deliberately. There are probably several reasons why: first of all, it is to "bind" russian soldiers with the blood, so that they do not surrender, so that they understand that they are war criminals... If they execute Ukrainian prisoners of war, then, if they surrender, they are told that they will be treated exactly the same," Lubinets said.
He also added that the russians are trying to destroy the current system of international humanitarian law, showing that it is ineffective.
"They sneeze at international humanitarian law, at the Geneva Conventions... The russians have now adopted the tactic of destroying the current international system of international humanitarian law, showing that it does not exist. It must be changed, and during these changes it is certain that they will promote their own interests. For example, the increase in the number of permanent members of the UN Security Council among those countries that support the russian federation is very dangerous for all of us," the Ombudsman noted.
Lubinets also emphasized that the International Committee of the Red Cross and the UN informs about the killings of Ukrainian prisoners, "so that the issue of the execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war is considered at the highest level at the UN General Assembly, again with legal consequences for the russian federation."
"Perhaps we need to introduce separate sanctions lists against the russians who do this. I really want that someday, in the future, international partners will understand that only drastic economic sanctions can stop russian aggression... This is the only thing that can lead to a stop of this aggression. The rest, unfortunately, you see, does not work and is getting worse every day," the Ombudsman noted.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the Donetsk regional prosecutor's office started a pre-trial investigation after a video showing the execution of a Ukrainian prisoner was circulated on social networks.
Who we are: About us, Contacts. How we write news and our principles: Editorial code. We did our best. If you found this valuable – please support us.
To request a correction, please send an email.