At least 32 Ukrainian prisoners of war recently captured by Russia were executed between December 1, 2023 and February 29, 2024, according to a report published on Tuesday by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), cited by the Kyiv Independent.

Reports of the torture or killing of Ukrainian prisoners of war while in Russian captivity have appeared since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine. At the end of February, the Prosecutor General’s Office reported that 19 criminal proceedings had been opened for the shooting of 45 Ukrainian prisoners of war.

The OHCHR stated that it recorded 12 cases of execution of at least 32 Ukrainian prisoners of war captured in winter, that is, some of them were probably executed in groups.

“OHCHR verified three of these incidents in which seven Ukrainian servicemen were executed by Russian servicemen,” said the report, which is based on interviews with 60 Ukrainian servicemen released from captivity.

Their stories confirmed the previously documented facts of torture, inhuman or degrading treatment and mass punishment of Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russian captivity, as well as conditions of detention that do not comply with international law, the OHCHR said.

Accusations for Ukraine as well

The agency also interviewed 44 Russian prisoners of war who did not report being tortured in official Ukrainian detention facilities.

However, according to the report, the organization said there were “convincing reports of torture and ill-treatment of Russian prisoners of war at transit points after their evacuation from the battlefield.”

An investigation by the Kyiv Independent newspaper last December showed inhuman conditions of detention, starvation and torture, in particular, in one Russian camp: Olenivska prison, located in the Russian-occupied Donetsk region.