Russian soldier tells journalists he helped kill five Ukrainian POWs in Donetsk region

A Russian soldier told journalists that he took part in the killing of five Ukrainian prisoners of war in the Donetsk region in May 2024.

Thirty-one-year-old Ivan Okhlopkov, a member of Russia’s Somalia Battalion, told the outlet Vot Tak that he entered the Ukrainian village of Karlivka, near Avdiivka, as part of an assault unit on May 5, 2024. According to him, Russian troops engaged in a firefight with Ukrainian soldiers who were hiding in the basement of a private house. Okhlopkov said the Ukrainian troops “kept firing back until they ran out of ammunition,” after which they came out of hiding.

The Russian soldiers captured five of the soldiers, took away their phones and body armor, and confiscated documents from two of them. Okhlopkov said one of the captured soldiers looked about 20 years old, while the others were around 40.

Okhlopkov said four or five other members of the Somalia Battalion were involved in the killings, which took place in a garden near the house where the Ukrainian soldiers had been hiding. He claimed the order came from a female soldier named Kristina, who commanded the battalion’s assault platoon.

Asked if it was easy for him to kill the prisoners, Okhlopkov responded: “What do you mean? This is war. There’s no such thing as easy or hard. You have to do it. Either you or them.”

When the reporter pointed out that there are established procedures for handling prisoners, the soldier said: “Of course, I felt sorry for them. I get it — we could have taken them alive. But you have to understand, they don’t exactly take our guys prisoner either.”

According to Vot Tak, Okhlopkov is originally from Russia’s Republic of Udmurtia. He joined the war from prison, later deserted, and was placed on a wanted list in 2025 for leaving his unit without permission. He told the outlet he would “happily” return to prison: “Of course prison is better [than the army]. At least you stay alive there.”

Vot Tak said it contacted the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office to ask whether authorities were aware of the killings in Karlivka, but received no response.