Any Russian moves to prosecute and potentially execute some of the hundreds of Ukrainian fighters who surrendered in Mariupol could be in breach of the Geneva conventions, which state that prisoners of war should not be punished for having taken part in hostilities.
The concerns were underlined by the UK’s armed forces minister, James Heappey,who told the radio station LBC: “I think there have been enough atrocities in this war already without seeing the execution or whatever of the prisoners of war, which I fear this is a prelude to. I just think we have to be very clear, that sort of atrocity the west would stand in utter condemnation of. Prisoners of war have a status enshrined in the Geneva convention.”
