The UN calls on Russia and Ukraine to investigate alleged orders for the execution of prisoners of war

The spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ravina Shamdasani, called on the Russian and Ukrainian authorities on Tuesday to investigate reports of alleged orders to execute prisoners of war both sides in the framework of the Russian invasion.

“We urgently call on the parties to investigate and publicly condemn the audio recordings that were released over the weekend and on which several people allegedly connected to the conflict in Ukraine are ordering the execution of prisoners“, he asserted in a statement in which he condemned that some of those audio recordings also talk about “no survivors being left behind” on the battlefield.

Audio recordings were released to the public on April 23 through various Telegram channels, in which fighters were asked “stop taking prisoners of war and execute those already captured”.

In one of these recordings, an alleged Ukrainian soldier can be heard ordering the murder of a prisoner of war belonging to Wagner’s group. In the second, a mercenary from that group talks about the end of this type of prisoner, which he asks not to give any chance to survive on the field.

“Although we have not yet been able to verify the authenticity of these recordings, such comments may provoke or promote arbitrary executions of prisoners of war”said Shamdasani, who asked the parties and the prisoners themselves “to honor their obligations under international law and investigate this matter” to identify those responsible.

In addition, they called on military commanders and other superiors to “discontinue ambiguous orders and protections and deal humanely with those outside combat and ensure that these orders are strictly followed.”