Putin the Humanist? 10 Ways Russia Has Shown Its ‘Humanity’ in Ukraine

US special envoy Steve Witkoff called Vladimir Putin a “humanist” during a meeting in St. Petersburg on Wednesday, Oct. 21, praising the Russian leader in connection with the release of an American detainee. The compliment came as Russia continued its war against Ukraine. Just two days earlier, a Russian drone struck a crowded park in Nova Vodolaha, in the Kharkiv region, killing six people, including an infant in a stroller. Children were among the wounded.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. One released American was apparently enough to earn Putin a humanitarian accolade. The Ukrainians living through Russia’s invasion might have a few questions. Here are 10 episodes that put the word “humanist” in context. 1. Bucha: Civilians shot, some with their hands tied When Russian forces withdrew from Bucha, outside Kyiv, in late March 2022, the bodies of civilians lay in streets, yards, and buildings. Some had been shot at close range. Others had their hands bound behind their backs. Human Rights Watch documented 16 apparently unlawful killings in Bucha, including nine summary executions. Its investigators examined witness accounts, photographs, and physical evidence. Serhii Matiuk, a local funeral home worker, told Human Rights Watch he had collected about 200 bodies from Bucha’s streets since the Russian invasion began. He estimated that around 50 bodies he encountered had their hands tied. Some showed signs of torture, he said. At a children’s camp used as a Russian military base, investigators found five men in civilian clothing in a basement. Four had their hands zip-tied behind their backs. Bloodstains marked a wall. The UN later documented 73 civilian killings in Bucha during the Russian occupation and was investigating another 105 alleged killings. Russia denied killing civilians in Bucha and called the evidence fabricated. Independent investigators, however, documented specific killings and evidence consistent with summary executions. 2. Mariupol: Hundreds sheltering in a theater that became a grave In March 2022, thousands of civilians were trapped in Mariupol as Russian forces bombarded the city. Food, water, electricity, and heating became increasingly scarce. Families crowded into basements and buildings they hoped would offer protection. The Mariupol Drama Theatre became one such refuge. Civilians slept inside, including children. Large signs spelling out “ДЕТИ” – “CHILDREN” – were placed outside the building to make their presence visible from the air. On March 16, a Russian airstrike destroyed much of the theater. An Associated Press (AP) visual investigation reconstructed the attack using survivor interviews, photographs, video, floor plans, and a 3D model. The team concluded that about 600 people were killed. The exact death toll remains uncertain. 3. Mariupol’s maternity hospital: A mother and her baby did not survive On March 9, 2022, a Russian airstrike hit a maternity and children’s hospital in Mariupol. Photographs by AP photographer Evgeniy Maloletka showed rescuers carrying an injured pregnant woman on a stretcher through the rubble. Her face was pale, her clothes were bloodied, and one hand rested over her abdomen. The woman was rushed to another hospital. Doctors found that her pelvis was crushed and her hip detached. They delivered her baby by cesarean section, but the child showed no signs of life. After more than 30 minutes of resuscitation, doctors were unable to save the mother. Workers attach a banner with a photo of a pregnant woman being carried on a stretcher after the bombing of a maternity ward in Mariupol during Russia's war in Ukraine that is displayed as part of an exhibition at the railway station in Vilnius, Lithuania on March 25, 2022, where transit trains from Moscow to Kaliningrad make a stop over. An exhibition of shocking images from the war in Ukraine opened on March 25 at a train station in Lithuania with the aim of giving Russian transit travellers a true picture of the conflict. The Baltic state allows 100 trains a month carrying Russian passengers to transit to and from the exclave of Kaliningrad under a special arrangement between Lithuania, the European Union and Russia. (Photo by PETRAS MALUKAS / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY MENTION OF THE ARTIST UPON PUBLICATION - TO ILLUSTRATE THE EVENT AS SPECIFIED IN THE CAPTION Neither survived. Another pregnant woman, blogger Mariana Vishegirskaya, was photographed descending debris-covered stairs in a polka-dot pajama set after the attack. She gave birth to a daughter the following day. Russian officials claimed the hospital had been taken over by Ukrainian forces and dismissed images of the victims as staged. 4. Ukrainian children taken to Russia In March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, over the alleged war crimes of unlawful deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children from occupied areas to Russia. The issue is not simply that children crossed a border. Investigators have documented children separated from parents or guardians, taken from occupied territory, placed in Russian institutions or foster families, and subjected to efforts to reshape their national identity. The circumstances differ. Some children were transferred from institutions, others from occupied communities, and some have relatives who have struggled to locate and bring them home. Each case requires its own evidence. 5. The Kakhovka dam: Floodwaters through homes and villages On June 6, 2023, the destruction of the Kakhovka dam on the Dnipro River sent floodwaters across communities in southern Ukraine, inundating homes, streets, and farmland, forcing thousands of residents to flee. The death toll remains disputed and incomplete. Ukrainian authorities reported at least 34 deaths in territory under Ukrainian control. But an AP investigation found evidence that 200-300 people may have drowned in Russian-occupied Oleshky alone – far more than the number reported by Russian occupation authorities. The UN has said it could not fully assess the impact in occupied areas because Russia denied it access. The flooding also damaged water supplies and irrigation systems and caused extensive environmental harm. 6. Okhmatdyt: Children evacuated from a hospital under missile attack On July 8, 2024, a Russian missile struck Kyiv’s Okhmatdyt children’s hospital, Ukraine’s largest pediatric medical facility. The attack destroyed the hospital’s toxicology building, where children were undergoing treatment, including hemodialysis. Patients and staff were forced to evacuate. Medical workers and volunteers dug through rubble while parents tried to keep their children safe. The Ukrainian government said 627 children were inside the hospital during the attack. Patients who needed urgent care were moved outside, with some receiving treatment on benches while emergency teams worked among the wreckage. The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission examined the strike and said the evidence indicated a direct hit by a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile. Russia denied targeting civilian facilities. The attack damaged a hospital whose patients were already seriously ill or injured. Some children had to continue receiving care amid the destruction and uncertainty of evacuation. 7. Russian captivity: electric shocks, beatings, and Olenivka Ukrainian prisoners of war returning from Russian captivity have described beatings, electric shocks, sexual violence, threats of execution, and mock executions. The UN has documented widespread torture and ill-treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) held by Russia. In interviews published in March 2024, almost every Ukrainian POW interviewed by UN monitors described torture, and more than half reported sexual violence. Read the UN findings. One of the deadliest incidents occurred at the Russian-controlled penal colony near Olenivka, in the occupied Donetsk region, on the night of July 28-29, 2022. An explosion in a barrack holding Ukrainian prisoners killed at least 50 POWs and injured 151 others, according to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. Russia blamed Ukraine, claiming its forces had struck the barrack with HIMARS rockets. But the UN concluded that the explosion was not caused by a HIMARS rocket. It could not establish the precise weapon or its point of origin, in part because Russian authorities denied investigators access and the site was not preserved for an independent examination. The UN also found that injured prisoners did not receive prompt medical care. Some reportedly died from blood loss while waiting for help – survivors were taken to hospitals hours later. The full circumstances of the explosion and accountability for the deaths remain unresolved. In February 2026, Kyiv Post published testimony from a former Ukrainian POW describing torture, mock executions and two years without sunlight. In May 2026, Kyiv Post reported on a Ukrainian documentation project that identified nearly 200 detention sites and compiled evidence of abuse. Torture and cruel treatment of prisoners of war are prohibited under international humanitarian law. POWs must be protected, not subjected to violence or denied necessary medical care. 8. Executions of Ukrainian POWs Ukrainian soldiers have been shot after surrendering, with some executions captured on drone footage and later examined by investigators. In October 2024, footage circulated showing 16 Ukrainian soldiers being executed after surrendering in the Pokrovsk district of the Donetsk region. The video appeared to show Russian troops opening fire on the men after they emerged from a trench and lined up. Ukraine’s Prosecutor General described it as the largest reported case of its kind on the front line at the time. In another case, Human Rights Watch examined drone footage from near the village of Ivanivske in Donetsk region. The footage showed Ukrainian soldiers emerging from a dugout, removing some of their protective equipment and lying face down. Russian soldiers then shot them. Human Rights Watch said at least three of the clearly surrendered soldiers were killed in the incident. Its investigation documented several other apparent executions of Ukrainian soldiers attempting to surrender. The killings have continued. On April 12, 2026, Ukrainian military officials reported that Russian forces had captured and executed four Ukrainian servicemen near Vetarynarne in the Kharkiv region. Ukrainian authorities said they were investigating the incident as a war crime. The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine has also documented a sharp rise in reported executions. In a report covering the period from late August 2024 to May 2025, it said it had recorded credible allegations that 106 Ukrainian soldiers captured by Russian forces had been executed. The UN assessed the allegations using video and photographic material and witness interviews. It had verified 88 executions of people who were no longer participating in hostilities since Russia’s full-scale invasion began, while continuing to investigate additional cases. Under the laws of war, soldiers who surrender or are otherwise hors de combat must be protected. Executing captured or incapacitated combatants is prohibited and may constitute a war crime. 9. Shahed drones fitted with more destructive warheads Russia has repeatedly modified its Iranian-designed Shahed attack drones, including by introducing different warhead configurations. An AP investigation confirmed that Russia has begun to deploy modified attack drones carrying thermobaric warheads against Ukraine. The report indicated that a production plant located in Alabuga, in the Tatarstan region, has been equipping the Iranian / Russian Shahed drones with these devastating payloads since at least the summer. The thermobaric warheads produce intense heat and pressure, and fragmentation warheads, which scatter metal fragments when they detonate. The consequences depend on the weapon, where it detonates and who is nearby. Fragmentation warheads can send metal pieces into surrounding areas, while thermobaric weapons can cause severe blast and heat injuries. When such weapons hit populated areas, civilians can be caught in the blast even if they are not at the point of impact. 10. Residential areas: under attack from East to West Russian missile and drone strikes hit residential buildings and civilian neighborhoods across Ukraine every day, from cities near the front line in the east to communities in the west. The scale of the attacks and the number of people killed make it impossible to list every incident in a single article. As of June 2026, Ukrainian law enforcement data recorded at least 17,596 civilian deaths, including 705 children, since Russia launched its full-scale invasion. The figure is not a complete count. In Mariupol alone, Ukrainian authorities have documented 12,500 individual civilian deaths, while President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine believes the actual toll there may be around 20,000. The full number of civilians killed across Ukraine remains unknown. Russia’s record of abuse beyond Ukraine Russia’s record extends beyond Ukraine. During the 2008 war in Georgia and the subsequent occupation, the European Court of Human Rights found Russia responsible for violations including killings and ill-treatment of civilians, looting and preventing people from returning home. In Syria, UN investigators found that Russian airstrikes on civilian areas included attacks that amounted to war crimes. The pattern predates the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.