Russians Shoot Five POWs in the Pokrovsk Sector

Russian invaders shot five Ukrainian prisoners of war near the village of Kotlyne in the Donetsk region, close to Pokrovsk.

The press service of the Donetsk Regional Prosecutor’s Office reported on this.

On November 19, 2025, during an assault on Ukrainian positions near Kotlyne in the Pokrovsk district, Russian forces captured five Ukrainian soldiers.

When the unarmed Ukrainian defenders were lying on the ground face down, one of the invaders opened aimed fire on them with an assault rifle, killing them.

Under the procedural guidance of the Donetsk Regional Prosecutor’s Office, a pre-trial investigation has been launched in a criminal case for committing a war crime that resulted in the death of a person (Part 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

Urgent investigative (search) actions are currently underway to establish all the circumstances of the incident and identify those involved in committing the crime, including Russian military personnel. Investigators from the Security Service of Ukraine in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions are conducting the pre-trial investigation in the criminal case.

The Prosecutor’s Office emphasized that the killing of prisoners of war is a gross violation of the Geneva Conventions and qualifies as a serious international crime.

In mid-November, Ukrainian drones recorded how the Russians killed three civilians who were trying to evacuate from the area of active combat.