Russian forces apparently shot five unarmed Ukrainian prisoners of war (POW) in Donetsk Oblast earlier this November, the Prosecutor General's Office said on Nov. 26, launching a war crime investigation.

According to the statement, Russian troops captured five Ukrainian defenders during an assault in the Pokrovsk sector. After forcing them to lay down their weapons and lie down on the ground, they are said to have shot them with automatic weapons.

"An investigation is currently underway to establish all the circumstances of the crime and the persons involved," the prosecutors' statement read.

Reports of murders, torture, and ill-treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war are received regularly by Ukrainian authorities and have spiked in recent months. Most cases were recorded in the embattled Donetsk Oblast.

Ukraine’s Ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, said he had notified the United Nations and the Red Cross regarding the latest case from the Pokrovsk sector.

"I emphasize that the killing of prisoners of war is a gross violation of the Geneva Conventions and is qualified as a serious international crime," he wrote.

Last week, the Donetsk Regional Prosecutor's Office reported two other Ukrainian POWs killed by Russian troops in the Pokrovsk sector.

Law enforcement officers are investigating 53 criminal proceedings over the executions of 177 Ukrainian soldiers, while 37 proceedings of 109 executions were registered in 2024 alone, the Prosecutor General's Office said on Nov. 22.