A Russian commander ordered that the heads of Ukrainian soldiers be left "on the field": a new war crime
There must be specific names and punishments for each such atrocity
On the Huliaipole direction the Russian occupiers, according to the Ukrainian side, committed another war crime. It concerns the desecration of the bodies of fallen Ukrainian servicemen after a battle.
This is reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
12 May 2026 servicemen of the 225th Separate Assault Regiment were ambushed by an enemy infiltrated group. In the course of the battle two Ukrainian soldiers were killed.
According to intercepted intelligence, the commander of a unit of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation gave a direct order to desecrate the bodies of the fallen Ukrainian defenders. In particular, the radio interception reportedly mentions an order to cut off two heads “to confirm” and leave them in a visible place at the edge of the field.
The Ukrainian side emphasizes that such actions are a gross and deliberate violation of the rules and customs of war. This is a war crime that has no statute of limitations.
The report also notes that such actions by the Russian occupiers are not isolated. At the same time, each such crime has specific perpetrators and commanders who must be identified and held accountable.
The unit whose servicemen may have been involved in the atrocity has been preliminarily identified. According to available information, the criminal order was given by a commander who had previously ordered the mistreatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war.
These facts once again show that the Russian army systematically and deliberately ignores international humanitarian law, the rules of warfare and basic moral norms. For Ukraine, documenting each such crime is part of the future punishment of the guilty.
Those responsible for the atrocity must be identified and punished. Accountability for war crimes does not disappear with time.
Reminder: earlier we wrote:
- In the Kharkiv region, occupiers shot four captured Ukrainian fighters: the prosecutor’s office opened a case
- Russia executed 337 Ukrainian prisoners of war by the end of 2025
- “Hell from first-hand accounts”: in a Russian general’s correspondence — torture and executions of Ukrainian prisoners
- A Russian serviceman was, for the first time, sentenced to life imprisonment for the shooting of our prisoner
- Instead of treatment — beatings: a released Mykolaiv resident described torture in Russian captivity
