Ombudsman appeals to UN over shooting of Ukrainian prisoners of war in Avdiivka

The Ukrainian parliamentary commissioner for human rights, Dmytro Lubinets, has appealed to the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross to clarify all the circumstances of the shooting of Ukrainian prisoners of war in Avdiivka by Russian troops. This was reported by Dmytro Lubinets on 20 February.

He noted that the withdrawal of the Ukrainian military from Avdiyivka took place under the conditions of continuous bombardment by the enemy army. Evacuation routes and vehicles were shelled. Some seriously wounded and dead servicemen managed to be evacuated. Due to the large-scale offensive of the occupants there was no chance for repeated attempts at evacuation.

Because of the complete encirclement of the Zenit stronghold, the command decided to contact the coordination centre and organisations that were negotiating with the enemy side. The dialogue was to assist our severely wounded unarmed military, in accordance with international laws and rules of engagement that protect prisoners of war," Lubinets wrote.

He stressed that the occupiers informed the coordinators of this process that they agree to evacuate the wounded Ukrainian defenders and provide them with assistance, and in the future - to exchange them. The Ukrainian servicemen were ordered to preserve their lives.

The families of the Defenders recognised Georgiy Pavlov, Andrey Dubnytskyi, Ivan Zhitnyk as dead. Oleksandr Zinchuk and Mykola Savosik, who were shot by Russian soldiers, were also with them. The information about the sixth fighter has not yet been confirmed.

As the Ombudsman of Ukraine, I have urgently sent letters to the ICRC and the United Nations to document this war crime and clarify all the circumstances. I would like to note that this is not the first time when Russia grossly violates the norms of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions by executing prisoners of war," Lubinets said.

Lubinets called on the entire civilised world to unite and increase pressure on the terrorist country.

Also, the Ukrainian prosecutor's office launched an investigation into the shooting of Ukrainian prisoners of war by the Russian military in Avdiivka and Veseloye.