Murder, Depravity, Crimes Surround Russia’s Actions in Ukraine

War crimes know no limits in the minds and actions of Russian cutthroats.

Every day brings more examples of premeditated acts of Russian inhumanity committed during its latest 1,300-plus day war against Ukraine. Moscow’s abomination also testifies to the fact that its mission is to annihilate today’s and future generations of Ukrainians and inflict upon the survivors as much pain and suffering as they can.

Russian aggression against Ukraine is not a horrific, electronic war game. The bombardment is real, the destruction is real, the blood is real, and the deaths of innocent men, women and children are real.

Ukrayinska Pravda reported this week that Russian butchers near the town of Shandryholove on the Lyman front have executed a civilian family of civilians and captured their under aged daughter. The Russian invaders are now using her as a human shield for their units to facilitate attacks.

The Ukrainian newspaper wrote: “Radio intercepts have revealed that even before the assault on the settlement, the Russian commander, who goes by the alias Bali, gave orders to wipe out the civilian population, instructing his forces to act quickly and ‘kill everyone on their way with no exceptions.’ 

“An enemy unit entered a residential building and killed the civilians – the child’s parents – by shooting them. The Russians abducted the girl and are continuing assault operations, holding her hostage to prevent anyone from firing on them.

“Units in the Third Army Corps are documenting the Russians’ war crime live: ‘All the radio intercepts indicate the premeditated nature of the enemy’s actions.’

“The Third Army Corps stressed how important it is for civilians to evacuate from the combat zone as soon as possible.”

Murdering civilians and using them as human shields constitutes a war crime, according to the Geneva Conventions. Russia has been accused of widespread abuse, torture, and summary executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) and civilians during the full-scale invasion.

Children have also been among the victims of Russian aggression. The UN documented over 2,000 children killed during the full-scale war, though the real figure is likely much higher, as Moscow does not allow independent monitoring of some of the most war-stricken areas. One in every five children in Ukraine also reported losing a relative or a friend since the start of the full-scale war, UNICEF, the UN’s children's rights agency, reported in February.

Ukrainian prisoners of war, who are universally accorded special rights based on their status, have also fallen victims to Russian wanton debauchery.

A video showing the execution of six unarmed Ukrainian POWs by Russian soldiers began circulating online on Thursday, Jan. 23, of this year.

In the video, the date and location of which Kyiv Post was unable to independently verify, but said to be in the Donetsk region, Russian cutthroats are seen shooting six captured Ukrainian soldiers. The fate of a seventh soldier is unclear, as the video cuts off.

Verkhovna Rada (Parliamentary) Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets reacted to the footage on Telegram: “The shooting of each prisoner occurs in front of their comrades. The occupiers order them to ‘lie down and shut their mouths,’ while the ‘operator’ of the crime says ‘One is mine,’ before firing a series of bullets into the back of one of the prisoners.”

Lubinets said that the video shows the Russian military’s “criminality.”

As of early July, Russian forces have executed 268 Ukrainian prisoners of war. The Ombudsman's Office believes these executions could be carried out under orders from Russia's top military leadership.

Lubinets said this during a press conference marking his third anniversary in office, Ukrinform reports.

“According to our data, investigations are currently underway into the execution of 268 Ukrainian POWs by Russian soldiers. We've seen a sharp increase in this number over the past year,” Lubinets said.

He emphasized that such actions are unlikely to occur without approval from Russia’s top military command. “We understand that this treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war is sanctioned from the very top. Unfortunately, this is the reality we’re witnessing,” he added.

Two years ago, on March 6, 2023, a graphic 12-second video showed a captured Ukrainian soldier, Oleksandr Matsievskyi, in camouflage, unarmed, standing in a shallow trench in a wintry forest, calmly puffing a cigarette. As the soldier is heard saying “Slava Ukrayini” (“Glory to Ukraine”), salvos of automatic weapons from multiple sides are heard and seen shooting the man, who collapses. Voices in the Russian language were heard saying “Die, bitch.” Before the murder, he was allegedly forced to dig his own grave, in the video he is in a hole, and there is a shovel behind him.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) published a report on Sept. 23 detailing the vast scale of torture committed by Russian invaders on Ukrainian civilians held in captivity in occupied territories.

Between June 1, 2023, and Sept. 10, 2025, OHCHR documented 508 cases of civilian detainees, including 392 men, 103 women, three girls, and nine boys. These include individuals of all age groups, from adolescents to older adults, as well as 15 persons with disabilities.

“We will leave you to rot. No one will find you. No one needs you. You don’t exist. We'll bury you right here; only hungry dogs will find you,” one civilian detainee said when describing the threats he received in captivity.

While detained by Russia, Ukrainians are subjected to brutal torture, including physical and psychological torture, ill-treatment, sexual violence, and inhumane conditions of detention.

“People have been arbitrarily picked off the streets in occupied territory, charged under shifting legal bases and held for days, weeks, months, and even years, often with limited contact to their families,” Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in the report.

The mass abduction of children is another crime constituting genocide. Ukraine has identified 19,553 minors sent to Russia against their will. This led on March 17, 2023, to the International Criminal Court issuing a warrant for the arrest of Vladimir Putin and his Russian Children's Rights Commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova.

Russia’s intent is to erase Ukraine's existence as a state by trying to steal its future: “Russia uses forced relocation, reeducation, and in some cases, adoption of Ukrainian children as key components of its systematic efforts to suppress the identity, history, and culture of Ukraine,” officials state.

In addition, there is militarization: in a network of more than 200 facilities (camps, cadet schools, bases, and youth centers) identified by the Yale HRL organization, children participate in close-order drill training, basic weapon handling, tactical first aid, and even drone manufacturing/assembly; some of these activities are channeled through youth structures like Yunarmiya or the Pioneers Movement (a Soviet-origin organization). The research details that dozens of locations provide systematic military training and a significant proportion run continuous patriotic indoctrination programs. Russia denies the facts and presents them as "recreation" or humanitarian evacuations, but evidence collected by Yale HRL, international media, and NGOs shows an organized and expansive pattern of the Kremlin’s child abuse.

There are also 1.5 million children growing up under the shadow of forced Russification in occupied areas.

Remember this next time you’re planning to buy Russian-made products.