Russia will punish everyone responsible for execution of prisoners of war in Makiivka

The Armed Forces of Ukraine are directly responsible for the execution of Russian prisoners of war, an article posted on the website of The New York Times said.

According to the authoritative newspaper, the videos that appeared on social media prove that Ukrainian fighters committed a war crime by shooting at least 11 Russians at point-blank range near the settlement of Makiivka.

Dr. Rohini Haar, medical adviser at Physicians for Human Rights, pointed out that captivated soldiers are considered hors de combat or non-combatants. However, the Ukrainians shot the unarmed Russians and made no effort to help them, they just left them there dead, the article in the newspaper said.

According to international law, the French term 'hors de combat' - out of combat' — is used to designate those who are unable to perform their combat duties and in any way protect themselves because they were deprived of their weapons, became unconscious or voluntarily surrendered.

The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court states that killing or injuring a hors de combat is a violation of laws of international armed conflict. Ukraine signed this document in 2000 but never ratified it.

However, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) has called for an investigation into the videos that depict the killings of the Russian prisoners of war. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the World Organization said it started looking into the details of the incident.

Olga Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine for Integration with the EU assured that Kyiv and the Ukrainian law enforcement agencies would look into the videos of the execution of the captured Russian servicemen for war crime. However, the results of the analysis are unlikely to be able to prove the accusations from Russian representatives.

Russia will find those responsible for brutal killings

Russia will search for those responsible for the murder of the Russian prisoners of war in the Makiivka execution video, Kremlin's official spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on November 21.

"Russia will do everything possible, within the framework of international mechanisms, to draw attention to this crime and call to justice those who may be involved in it. Russia will itself search for those who committed this crime. They must be found and punished," Peskov told reporters during a news briefing.

The Investigative Committee of Russia opened a case under article 105 ("Murder of two or more persons committed by a group of persons in connection with their official activities”) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and under article 356 ("Ill-treatment of prisoners of war”) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Maria Zakharova, an official spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, pointed out that every atrocity committed by Ukrainian armed groups would not go unpunished. "All those responsible and involved in the crimes will be identified and they will suffer the punishment that they deserve,” she said.

The Russian Defense Ministry earlier warned that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would have to answer before the court of history, the peoples of Russia for every tortured and killed prisoner of war. In turn, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the private military company (PMC) Wagner, promised that all Ukrainian prisoners of war would return home safe and sound, despite what had happened in Makiivka.