Kyiv, Ukraine
CNN
—
The radio crackled, but the order barked into it was clear: Capture the commander and kill the others.
The chilling exchange was part of a series of radio transmissions between Russian forces that Ukrainian officials say provide further evidence that Russian superiors are ordering soldiers to execute surrendering Ukrainian troops in violation of international law.
The radio communications intercepted by Ukraine, which were obtained by CNN from a Ukrainian intelligence official, appear to correspond in time with drone footage of a suspected execution by Russian soldiers in Ukraine’s eastern Zaporizhzhia region last November. The footage shows six soldiers lying face down on the ground, with at least two being shot at point blank range and another being marched away.
Those deaths are under investigation by Ukrainian prosecutors, who shared a screenshot of the drone video on social media after the incident. A Ukrainian official familiar with the investigation said that the same radio intercepts CNN had obtained were being examined as part of the inquiry into the killings.
CNN has not been able to independently authenticate the radio traffic, or confirm the communications were directly linked to the drone footage, but a forensic expert who analyzed the audio files said they did not appear to have been manipulated.
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Updated
6:50 AM EDT, Wed May 21, 2025
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A leading United Nations investigator and a Western intelligence official told CNN the radio transmissions and drone footage were consistent with other instances of Russian forces allegedly executing surrendering Ukrainian troops.
Morris Tidball-Binz, the UN’s special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, said the radio transmissions and drone footage suggest the killing of surrendered soldiers by Russian forces, as has been reported by the UN.
Tidball-Binz, who has investigated similar suspected executions, called such incidents “grave breaches” of international law, adding that he believes this conduct could only be authorized by the highest authorities in Russia.
They “would not happen with such numbers and frequency without orders – or at the very least consent – from (the) highest military commanders, which in Russia means the Presidency,” he said.
The Russian Ministry of Defense has not responded to CNN’s request for comment on the allegations.
Russian officials have previously denied that Russian troops have committed war crimes and insisted that Russia treats prisoners of war in accordance with international law.
The alleged executions of prisoners of war, among other widespread charges that Russian military forces are responsible for war crimes in Ukraine, could complicate efforts by US President Donald Trump to bring a swift conclusion to the war. Trump has sought to end the fighting with an erratic approach that has often seen him side with Russian President Vladimir Putin and saw his administration briefly interrupt a State Department initiative to track alleged war crimes by Moscow.
A Western intelligence official told CNN he had reviewed the audio intercept files and “found them to be authentic, credible, and consistent with previously documented brutal executions. It is clear the soldier receives an order to execute the Ukrainian soldiers who have surrendered.”
The official said he was examining similar material from other cases, which “strengthen the evidence of a directive from Russian commanding officers to kill Ukrainian soldiers who have surrendered or are in the process of surrendering.”
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) told CNN that Russian soldiers in the “Storm unit” of the 394th Motorized Rifle Regiment (127th Motorized Rifle Division), of the 5th Combined Arms Army, were involved in the November attack. The SBU said it had linked the same “Storm unit” to another suspected execution in the same area – the beheading of a captured Ukrainian soldier – and that it had charged in absentia Russian commanders from the unit who it said were responsible.
The Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s office said it has, as of May 5, opened 75 criminal investigations into the suspected executions of 268 Ukrainian prisoners of war. It said the number of alleged executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war has been rising, with eight cases involving 57 soldiers in 2022, eight cases involving 11 soldiers in 2023, 39 cases with 149 soldiers in 2024, and 20 cases so far this year, with 51 soldiers.
Yurii Bielousov, head of the war crimes department at the Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office, said the rise was attributable to “instructions being given by top leaders of the Russian Federation, both political and military. We didn’t yet see a written order, but we had several examples of oral orders.”
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Updated
6:50 AM EDT, Wed May 21, 2025
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