In November 2025, during the assault on Ukrainian positions near the village of Hnativka in the Pokrovsk district, Russian occupiers surrounded and captured a serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. 

One of the occupiers tied his hands, while another struck him several times on the head with the butt of a rifle. When the unarmed defender stopped responding, he was shot.

The intentional killing of prisoners of war is a gross violation of the Geneva Conventions and is classified as a serious international crime. 

Under the procedural guidance of the Donetsk Regional Prosecutor's Office, a pre-trial investigation has been initiated in a criminal proceeding regarding the commission of a war crime that resulted in a person's death (Part 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

Currently, urgent investigative (search) actions are being conducted to establish all the circumstances of the event and the specific individuals who committed the said crime.

The pre-trial investigation is being carried out by investigators of the Main Directorate of the Security Service of Ukraine in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.