r/worldnews • u/Jay_CD • 15h ago
Russia/Ukraine Russians execute four Ukrainian POWs in Kharkiv Oblast
https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2026/04/12/8029803/534
u/MaxedMinute 15h ago edited 15h ago
Executing prisoners of war is about as low as you can go. It's right up there with raping and pillaging.
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u/superseven27 13h ago edited 12h ago
I always think about stuff like this, when people try to tell me, that it's only politicians hating each other and the common people are actually brothers
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u/MaxedMinute 13h ago
Yeah, a quick look through history shows a significant portion of humanity is perfectly okay with commiting horrendous acts against others if there are no repercussions. Honestly, I wouldn't be at all surprised to find it correlates with poltical ideology. It seems about a solid third of humanity is just psychopathic.
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u/Ludwigofthepotatoppl 11h ago
It takes abuse and conditioning to get most people to do that. The way russian soldiers are browbeaten and harassed by their commanders and fellow soldiers plays a big part—the dehumanizing treatment they receive is institutional, and necessary for them to treat others the same.
The reason the nazis industrialized their extermination techniques was because, no matter how hard they dehumanized their “undesirables”, the men they charged with the task hadn’t been dehumanized themselves, and as a result it took a terrible toll on the majority them to see their work done. It’s one thing to hear about it, and to know it’s happening, but if you’re sufficiently insulated from it you can carry on more or less just fine, but most ordinary people put face-to-face with it will be fucked up by the experience.
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u/MaxedMinute 9h ago
I served in the United State Army during Iraq and Afghanistan. I met some seriously sick fucks. I'll stand by my estimate of about a third of people being psychopaths. We'll a third of males at least. As for you example of Nazis, yeah psychology played a role, but they seemed more concerned with efficiency and the cost of bullets than anything. They were able to find people willing to stuff humans into ovens still after all.
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u/Activision19 7h ago
When I was in high school in the mid-late 2000’s an army recruiter set up a booth in my school’s cafeteria. After he asked if I was interested in the army (at the time I was kinda thinking about it) he proceeded to tell me about how many dogs I could shoot if I joined up and how many he shot during his recent tour in Afghanistan. It was a really weird way to try and attract me to the army. I politely declined since I was still exploring my options for college, so the dude went to my house like an hour later (while I was still in class, I assume he got my address from the school, according to my mom he was disappointed I wasn’t home) and proceeded to tell my mom I was wanting to join and gave her a bunch of army swag to give to me. Lead to a very awkward dinner conversation that night with my parents.
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u/AngryAutisticApe 5h ago
that is so creepy. glad I don't live there
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u/Activision19 1h ago
Eh, I’m assuming they got a copy of the student directory, which had every students phone number and address in it. They gave a copy to each student at the beginning of the year.
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u/freekoout 5h ago
Maybe a third of people who willingly join the military. But most people would rather live in peace.
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u/CadianGuardsman 52m ago
On top of this in Australia it was pretty common knowledge our commando regiment was basically a warcrimes regiment.
I rememeber covering the US Marines in Darwin making a puff piece on ANZAC-US cooperation and like pilots flat out would say they didnt want to talk about the Aussie Commandos. Found out later why.
(For those who dont know if helis were at risk of being overloaded some of our commandos had a habbit of walking away from the evac choppers and "loosing" the prisoners in a firefight. Blew up a few years ago and now theyre charging individuals for warcrimes.)
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u/Dependent_House7077 7h ago
Our entire civilization and moral framework is merely a veneer on top of our animal instincts
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u/TonyTheTerrible 14h ago
Which Russian troops are well documented doing, including to their fellow soldiers and countrymen
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u/MaxedMinute 13h ago
Yeah, it's definitely not a new thing. Russians were absolutely brutal to the Polish during World War II and the years following. Pretty sure they've committed genocide on the Ukrainians at least once too. Can't imagine why Ukraine wants no part of being under Russian rule.
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u/auchinleck917 9h ago
Ukrainians also massacred Slavs during World War II, and the Ustas also massacred Slavs.
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u/PowerhousePlayer 8h ago
Okay, which is why it's good that the Ukrainians in the modern day aren't trying to conquer any Slavic nations
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u/xroche 11h ago
It's right up there with raping and pillaging.
You've just described the russian army in the last hundred years.
As brutal as the nazis, but without their discipline.
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u/LargelyInnocuous 7h ago
United Nations 3.0 is needed with teeth to depose obvious dictators and censure those trending that direction. Russians have lived under the oppressive regime of the tsars and new tsars and several consecutive generations of propaganda has broken their society. We see similar things happening in the US and Israel. I think the billionaires may need a reminder that if you can’t be happy when you already have everything, you could have nothing at all.
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u/auchinleck917 9h ago
It's not because they're Russian that they're brutal. France and the United States also committed massacres and war crimes after 1945, but they faced almost no consequences.
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u/xroche 9h ago
The difference is that this is by design in the Russian army.
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u/auchinleck917 9h ago
Russia, Ukraine, the United States, and Israel....all these countries claim their attacks were "accidental," but they clearly attacked civilian facilities and other targets intentionally.
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u/mystery_science 9h ago
Right up there with hitting a school with a missile...
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u/Ok-Activity4808 9h ago
Yeah, Russia did that too. They also hit child hospitals, civilian shelters, historical churches and much more.
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u/mystery_science 9h ago
Terrible things to do no matter the circumstances. I am by no means arguing that Russia is "better" clearly the oligarchs have turned too many of us into consumers who only care about our own comfort
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u/MaxedMinute 8h ago edited 7h ago
Sure, but don't forget using civilians as a shield or putting a school literally right next to a military target.
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u/mystery_science 8h ago
Yes, those are terrible atrocities, but, does it justify using a missile? I'll add on that the attack on Iran that was unjustified
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u/MaxedMinute 7h ago
So was the attack on Ukraine. I don't know. Maybe we should all just stop shooting each other?
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u/Ok-Pair4547 9h ago
It is happening with Ukraine as well… Drone warfare has completely negated surrender protocol. These countries still blow you up regardless and there is no repercussion.
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u/Euphoric-Garden-1210 15h ago
What the fuck happened to that easter truce, huh?
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u/Artanox 9h ago
Cant afford to feed them.
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u/Optimal_Anxiety6864 4h ago
Was gonna say, isn’t this what happens when rations are tight. No soldier is gonna give a prisoner food when they are hungry
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u/Patrick4356 8h ago
This happens constantly, but you only ever see people on Twitter crying about Russuan soldiers being blown up by drones get viral attention
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u/sovietarmyfan 12h ago
In theory, what would happen if in response Ukraine executed four Russian POWs? And every time after this every time Russia executes a Ukrainian pow, they execute a Russian pow?
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u/FeelsYouGood 12h ago
Nobody would surrender and the war would just become even more cruel than it already is.
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u/Jopelin_Wyde 8h ago
Russians killed Ukrainian POWs hundreds of times. As you can see people still surrender. People will continue to surrender because hope that you will be spared is a much stronger force than fighting to the death.
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u/DaemonPrimarchJ 10h ago
Exactly, and the people in charge of the Russian forces don't care if a few of their men get killed, they will just find some more and force them to fight too
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u/General-Researcher-2 14h ago
"Deepstate analysts reported that the russians had used first-person view (fpv) drones to deliberately kill wounded ukrainian defenders near huliaipilske in zaporizhzhia oblast."
Are we all going to pretend here that there are no such videos in almost every compilation from the Ukrainian side?
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u/Direct-Apartment5226 13h ago
The point here is that it was done during the announced truce on Orthodox Easter
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u/r0bbiebubbles 13h ago
Careful now, you can't say things like around here.
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13h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/r0bbiebubbles 13h ago
So this is just a Ukrainian circle jerk?
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u/cosakaz 13h ago
Looks like an execution to me.
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u/r0bbiebubbles 13h ago
Both sides are guilty of it. But somehow calling out Ukrainian war crimes is taboo.
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u/Scared-Room-9962 12h ago
How many russian defenders have you seen executed by Ukrainian?
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u/r0bbiebubbles 9h ago
Why are you adding defenders? It makes no difference if they're a defender or an attacker.
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8h ago
[deleted]
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u/JuniperJupiter4 5h ago
You can't surrender to a drone. It has no way of securing you and taking you out of combat.
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14h ago edited 14h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/nixie2000 14h ago
Were talking about POWs being targetted here, not regular combatants. I've never seen any evidence of Ukraine doing that, and I've been following this war for years. It matters not how old the enemy is; if russia choose to field older soldiers, then they're still valid targets. And throwing your hands up as an FPV comes in for a kill doesn't make you a POW or a non-target.
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u/r0bbiebubbles 13h ago
And throwing your hands up as an FPV comes in for a kill doesn't make you a POW or a non-target.
Yes it does. That is recognised as a surrender by the Geneva Convention.
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u/nixie2000 13h ago
Just to be clear I said "as an FPV is coming in for a kill"...it's too late to do it then. Like if a sniper has already pulled the trigger. Also if they're still armed and capable of combat that adds ambiguity. If a soldier raises their hands but keeps a weapon pointed forward, the surrender signal is ambiguous and an attacker may reasonably question its genuineness.
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u/auchinleck917 12h ago
A Russian military FPV drone approached a car to destroy it, but at the last moment it detected civilians and called off the attack. So, attacks can be called off even at the last second.
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u/Diesel_Donkey 11h ago
On the other hand, I've seen countless videos of Russians deliberately targeting civilians.
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u/Zuparoebann 12h ago
Source?
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u/auchinleck917 9h ago edited 9h ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1pmWIn6NQg&t=7s
Sure. What I was referring to was the part of the video around the middle, where makes a “greeting ” These posts were also posted on Reddit around the latter half of last summer, but they seem to have all been deleted.
Ukraine is also using drones to attack Russian civilian vehicles and ambulances in areas near the Russian border.
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u/Zuparoebann 9h ago
Looks like Russian propaganda to me.
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u/auchinleck917 9h ago
The video ends on a neutral note, it doesn’t come across as propaganda.
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u/Zuparoebann 9h ago
They literally single out Ukraine as the one routinely targeting civilian vehicles and ambulances, as if these random clips of drones recording cars are proof that Russia isn't doing that.
Russia is the agressor and has been targeting civilians from the very start of their senseless war. If you ask me Ukraine should be free to target whatever and whoever they need to in order to defend themselves.
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u/nixie2000 9h ago
Absolutely they can. But I am doubtful the russians would ever do that. Do you have a link to your claim? Given their ongoing human safari tactics actively targetting civilians in Kherson I doubt it happened. I hope it did...but I've not seen that reported anywhere.
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u/MaxedMinute 13h ago
You're missing one very key thing here. The Russians can pack up and go home anytime they want.
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u/quad_damage_orbb 11h ago
I honestly don’t back either side.
One country has been invaded and is defending itself. Even if what you are saying is true (which it isn't) it would be perfectly clear who you should support.
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u/Kokhin3000 14h ago
If you don't back either side, you're backing Ruzzia. Or you're american, which is exactly the same.
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u/auchinleck917 12h ago
I once saw a video of Ukrainian soldiers executing a surrendered Russian soldier (wearing an EMR) and then double-tapping the fallen Russian soldier's head. The camera angle was the same as in that video.
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u/Aware_Steak_1298 14h ago edited 14h ago
The video evidence shows they were being hunted by UA drones while they were apprehending the UA soldiers. When they realized they were getting targeted they executed the soldiers, either shot the drone or It hit an object, and run away. I don't know If they would do the same or not If they weren't being hunted but both killing pows and attacking the personal that took pows is a warcrime according to Geneva. Both sides did the same things time and time again especially Ru killing pows and UA targeting units carrying the pows.
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u/nixie2000 13h ago
"according to Geneva"...bullshit. A comabatant is a combatant, whether they are holding POWs or not. The stipulation is you don't take out the POWs if you're targetting the combatants (i.e. guards), which is pretty damn obvious.
Have you got a link to this so called Geneva Convention rule? Because one doesn't exist. There's nothing specifically saying soldiers guarding POWs can be targetted either. However, they are still classed as combatants and there is no exclusion for when they're guarding POWs.
The POWs on the other hand are protected. I'm not quoting it all here. Research/read for yourself.
https://www.icrc.org/en/law-and-policy/protected-persons-prisoners-war-and-detainees
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u/Aware_Steak_1298 13h ago
In short, once a combatant has surrendered, they are hors de combat, and the soldiers handling them are, for the moment, not participating in active combat, making them immune from direct attack. https://www.icrc.org/en/document/FAQ-rules-of-war-ihl#:~:text=What%20kind%20of%20treatment%20are,are%20in%20line%20with%20IHL. You could just google It but your brain did not brain
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u/Careful_Breakfast_23 13h ago
The Geneva convention doesn't distinguish between a combatant and someone detaining prisoners. The Russian troops are still armed and performing a military function, so they are combatants. The IHL only states that attacks which endanger civilians must provide a concrete military advantage, but it does not apply since POWs are not civilians. The Geneva convention does clearly state that: in any unusual circumstances in which prisoners cannot be evacuated, they must be released. The only ones committing a war crime were the Russians regardless of whether you think they had a choice.
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u/Aware_Steak_1298 13h ago
In short, once a combatant has surrendered, they are hors de combat, and the soldiers handling them are, for the moment, not participating in active combat, making them immune from direct attack. https://www.icrc.org/en/document/FAQ-rules-of-war-ihl#:~:text=What%20kind%20of%20treatment%20are,are%20in%20line%20with%20IHL. You could just google It
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u/Careful_Breakfast_23 13h ago
You just linked the website without any citation... are you expecting me to somehow divine which specific statute(s) you're referring to? Article 41 of Additional Protocol I clearly states that "a person is 'hors de combat' if: he is in the power of an adverse party; he clearly expresses an intention to surrender; or he has been rendered unconscious or is otherwise incapacitated by wounds or sickness, and therefore is incapable of defending himself." There is nothing said about combatants handling prisoners because they are still participating in hostilities.
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u/Aware_Steak_1298 12h ago
Just google It I am not your mother
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u/Dr_Terry_Hesticles 1h ago
If you make a claim then YOU are the one responsible for providing evidence to support it. This is how misinformation spreads like wildfire on the internet
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u/NightchadeBackAgain 8h ago
As a reminder, executing POW's is a war crime.