A photo of a likely killed Ukrainian prisoner of war appeared online: Ombudsman's reaction.

The Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets addressed the International Committee of the Red Cross and the UN due to the appearance of a photograph with the presumed body of a Ukrainian prisoner of war, whom the Russian occupiers had beheaded and dismembered. He wrote about this on his Telegram channel.

Lubinets reminded that according to international humanitarian law, no prisoner of war can be subjected to physical mutilation, violence, or murder. In this regard, Lubinets appealed to:

• The International Committee of the Red Cross and the UN with a demand to record human rights violations by Russia;
• Ukrainian law enforcement authorities with a request to verify the identity of the killed prisoner and the fact of this crime.

The Human Rights Commissioner also emphasized that the responsibility for the treatment of prisoners of war lies with the state that holds them. Thus, the responsibility for murder and mutilation lies not only with the Russian soldiers but also with Russia itself.

Lubinets also drew attention to the hybrid nature of the war that Russia is waging against Ukraine. He claims that by spreading such photos and videos on social networks and committing such actions, Russia is trying to intimidate Ukrainians, both civilians and military.

Let us recall that on July 22, defender of Mariupol, fighter of the 12th special-purpose brigade «Azov» of the National Guard of Ukraine Oleksandr Ishchenko, who was in captivity, died. This was reported by his daughter Khrystyna Koshka on Instagram. Later, the information was confirmed by the press service of «Azov».