Russian armed forces have doubled down on the killing of Ukrainian prisoners of war, a UN monitoring mission in Ukraine has said, adding that it has verified reports of 79 such executions since the end of August.

Since the end of August, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine recorded 79 executions of Ukrainian POWs by Russian troops in 24 separate incidents, according to its recent report. View on

International humanitarian law prohibits the execution of prisoners of war and the wounded, and regards it as a war crime.

Ukraine recorded a record number of inquiries from Russians regarding missing Russian army soldiers, the Ukrainian Coordinating Staff for Prisoners of War reported on its Telegram channel. According to the staff's data,

Ukraine reported a record number of inquiries from Russians about missing Russian army soldiers, according to the Ukrainian Coordinating Staff for Prisoners of War's Telegram channel. Based on the staff's data,

Ukraine received a record number of inquiries last month from Russian families seeking information about missing relatives serving in Russia's armed forces, Kyiv said Tuesday. Ukraine established a hotline last year to help Russians locate missing soldiers as part of efforts to facilitate prisoner exchanges.

The UN Mission for Human Rights Monitoring in Ukraine has confirmed the execution of 79 Ukrainian prisoners of war by Russian forces since August of last year. This act has been declared a "war crime that requires urgent response from the international community.