By KYIV. Dec 4 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The execution of those who surrender is a war crime, Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets said on Saturday.
Lubinets said in a video published online of the shooting of two soldiers surrendering, “it is clearly visible that the Ukrainian military is performing the necessary steps that show that they are surrendering. The soldiers were unarmed, and their hands were raised up.”
The ombudsman intends to appeal to the International Committee of the Red Cross, whose mandate includes recording crimes against prisoners of war, and to the United Nations, so that the permanent UN monitoring mission can record this fact as another clear example of violations of international humanitarian law by Russia.
“Russia must be punished for every similar case of execution of Ukrainian soldiers who surrender. I note that they are not isolated – this is the murder of soldier Oleksandr Matsiyevsky and other military men who surrendered. This is also the public execution of prisoners of war in Olenivka,” he said in the Telegram channel.
Lubinets also believes that “our law enforcement and intelligence agencies will be able to identify those Russian military personnel who committed this crime. At the same time, I note that such crimes are the responsibility of the top leadership of Russia. Everyone must be punished.”
