2.Investigators believe the soldiers were shot dead on the day the Ukrainian army retreated as Russian troops stormed their positions, according to the statement.During one of the attacks, the Russian military captured five unarmed Ukrainian servicemen."They (the Russian military) killed one of them in a forest belt and took four of them to the road at gunpoint, where they also shot them dead," the Donetsk Regional Prosecutor's Office said.The regional prosecutor's office earlier reported that in a separate incident the Russian military had shot dead two Ukrainian POWs in Donetsk Oblast's Pokrovsk district in mid-November.They were stripped naked and shot dead, according to the prosecutors. In a picture published by the prosecutors, two blurred naked bodies are seen lying on the ground.Law enforcement officers are currently investigating 53 criminal proceedings over the executions of 177 Ukrainian soldiers, while 37 proceedings of 109 executions were registered in 2024 alone, according to the Prosecutor General's Office.Burning horizon: As Russia makes gains near Pokrovsk, civilians remain frozen in inactionSELYDOVE, Donetsk Oblast – “Kostia! Kostia?” Despite their volume, the volunteer’s calls dissipate in the strong winds coursing through the central streets of Selydove.