War in Ukraine – UN: “Very likely to be authentic videos of executions of Russian prisoners”

In the videos circulating on the internet showing executions of Russians prisoners of war in Ukraine focuses his High Commissioner UN for Human Rights Volker Turk stating that they are likely to be true.

“Since October, Russian strikes against critical energy infrastructure in Ukraine have caused the death of at least 77 civilians and have plunged millions of people into untold suffering” he pointed out as reported by the Athens News Agency.

“Millions are plunged into untold suffering and appalling living conditions due to these raidsTurk complained in a statement. “This raises serious problems under international humanitarian law, which stipulates that any target hit must have a specific and immediate military effect,” he added.

In the same statement, Turk said that based on preliminary analysis by the UN, the videos that appear to show Ukrainian soldiers executing Russian prisoners of war are “highly likely to be authentic”. Kyiv has indicated it will investigate any violations by its armed forces.

Turk called on both countries to give clear instructions to their armed forces on the treatment of prisoners of war and added that all allegations of summary executions should be thoroughly investigated.

At the same time, much of Ukraine remains without electricity and heating after Russian bombing. Since early October, Moscow has launched massive missile attacks against Ukraine’s electricity generation system about once a week.

The UN inspection team has said that both Russia and Ukraine have tortured prisoners of war.