(Pablo Miranzo/Anadolu via Getty Images) On June 19, 2024, Ukraine‘s National Guard “Bureviy” 1st brigade fired from an infantry assault vehicles on Russian positions in Serebryanskyi Forest, in Luhansk oblast, Ukraine. (Pablo Miranzo/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Some Russian milbloggers who support the war in Russia have responded to reports of more Ukrainian POWs executed by Moscow by trying to justify their killings.
Russian troops are reported to have killed nine Ukrainian drone operators on October 10 near the village Zeleny Shlyakh, in Russia’s Kursk Oblast.
In a counterattack against Russia’s full scale invasion launched two-and-a-half years ago, Ukraine conducted an incursion in Russia’s Kursk Oblast more than two months back, and has since controlled a patch on the territory.
Andriy Kostin, Ukraine’s prosecutor general, announced on October 13 that his office has opened an investigation into these killings. He described them as a “gross violation of the Geneva Conventions” and an “international crime.”
Several prominent milbloggers didn’t deny the reports, but instead argued the killing of POWs were justified. Some even took pleasure in the alleged murders.
Many Russian milbloggers are well-known in Russian society. Some have hundreds of thousands, while others have more than a half million subscribers on Telegram.
A political analyst based in Russia, told the Kyiv Independent milbloggers are a militant and extremist minority rather than a majority of the population. However, he stressed that they “would not function” without Kremlin approval.
He spoke under the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
“Their Telegram channel has many subscribers, which shows that part of the society trusts them to provide information,” he said.
“Overall society is not bloodthirsty, and does not support any executions. Only aggressive ultranationalists would support such things.”
Despite some recent polls suggesting a decline, Russian public support for the war against Ukraine has remained strong throughout the full scale invasion.
The Kremlin authorities did not comment publicly on the report or respond to requests for comments.
The milbloggers that supported the alleged killing largely backed the Kremlin policy, but they also criticized the conduct and conduct of the war. They argued that Russia’s approach was not strict enough.
Starshe Eddy, a 628,000-strong group of followers who call themselves “Older Than the Edda”, said that the executions had been “good but not sufficient.”
He wrote: “During World War II there were whole units of the German Army that were not taken as prisoners.”
“In our case the scum that entered Kursk Oblast, and were shooting at peaceful civilians, got what they deserved.”
This claim is not supported by any evidence.
Another, known as Rosgvardeyets with 29,000 followers wrote that “they [the prisoners] should have been executed”, even if they surrendered as prisoner of war without fighting.
“Drone operators shouldn’t be allowed to live,” wrote he. “First, extract all of the information out of them and then dispose them… The nature of warfare has changed.
“In the past snipers and drone operators were not taken prisoner. Now they have been added to that list.”
Zapiski Veterana (A Veteran’s Note) with 358,000 supporters accused Ukrainian drone operators “hunting civilians” during the evacuation of Sudzha (in Kursk Oblast and the Sudzha District.
The blogger wrote: “These bastards died in a humane manner.”
No evidence exists to suggest that Ukrainian drone operators hunt civilians on the battlefield or in Kursk Oblast. Russian drone operators have been well documented for their extensive targeting of civilians, especially in Kherson Oblast.
Dva Maiora, a blogger with 1,18 million followers who justifies the killings by claiming that the prisoners only surrendered after fighting back initially.
Dva Maiora stated that “Even the enemies channels write that they did not try to surrender immediately.” “They fought… They fought…
Dva Maiora has no evidence to back up her claims that drone operators are killing civilians.
Rybar, a milbogger with 1.3 million followers, tried to minimize the alleged crime.
He said that such executions are not uncommon on both sides of the conflict. “One of most common scenarios is the attempt to escape, seize an weapon and then liquidate the captives in armed combat.”
Rybar said that “captives are often a burden – there isn’t always the opportunity to assign a guard when you conduct effective assault operations.”
“It is easy to demand humanity from high office, as long as you are not on the frontlines and facing a them or us’ scenario,” he said.
On October 13, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiga published a message on X, calling on the international community to act immediately by issuing warrants to Russian soldiers who are found to have executed prisoners of war, increasing sanctions and demanding access to prison sites.
The mistreatment of Ukrainian POWs by Russia is barbaric, a grave violation of international law, laws, and customs of warfare. The UN reports that 95% of prisoners are tortured, and are denied access to basic needs and necessities.
Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s Ombudsman, said that he has provided information about the alleged murder to the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
In the last year, summary executions of Ukrainian prisoners by Russians have increased dramatically.
On Oct. 4, a senior representative from the Prosecutor’s Office told national television that Kyiv knew of 93 Ukrainian prisoners of war who were summarily killed by Russian soldiers during the full-scale conflict.
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