Ukrainian troops tortured and killed prisoners – ex-German soldier
A former German soldier who traveled to fight for Ukraine against Russia has claimed Ukrainian soldiers are carrying out summary executions of prisoners of war. He published the allegations in a book he wrote about his experience and later he called the episode “dirty” in an interview with German media outlet T-Online.
“You know that this happens in every army and in every war. It does not change the fact that Ukraine has the right to fight this war,” Jonas Kratzenberg said of the alleged war crime.
A veteran of Afghanistan, Kratzenberg was discharged from the German military in February 2022 and went to Ukraine the following month, according to a biography published online. He claimed to be a volunteer who wanted to defend the country and also to make use of his skills as a soldier. He joined the so-called International Legion, a force created by Kiev to accommodate foreign fighters.
Kratzenberg’s stint lasted until December when he was seriously injured in a Russian drone strike. The book, which he co-authored and was published in April, tells of his time in Ukraine.
The victims of the alleged summary execution were three Russian soldiers and a civilian. Kratzenberg told T-Online that he knew of two such cases, one of which was later investigated, but he didn’t know if anyone was held accountable.
The German citizen claimed that Legion volunteer were often underpaid or not paid at all and that he saw footage of a Ukrainian commander describing such recruits as cannon fodder. He added that in hindsight he should have left sooner than he did.
The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said in a report from March that it possessed evidence of extrajudicial killings of Russian POWs and other forms of mistreatment by Ukrainian troops. It said it was “not aware of any prosecutions of the perpetrators” by the Ukrainian authorities.
Russia has accused Kiev’s foreign backers of ignoring instance of wrongdoing by the Ukrainian side.
