Vladimir Putin's forces have been accussed of carrying out more atrocities after it was claimed nine captured Ukrainian soldiers have been executed.

A human rights ombudsman in Ukraine alleges Kremlin troops killed the Ukrainian prisoners of war in the Kursk border region of Russia last week.

Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets has written to both the United Nations and the Red Cross saying Moscow has breached "all the rules and customs of war".

DeepState, a Ukrainian battlefield analysis site close to Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, said that Russian troops shot and killed nine Ukrainian “drone operators and contractors” on October 10 after they had surrendered.

Today (Sunday) Ukrainian Prosecutor-General Andriy Kostin said that his office had opened a criminal investigation into the matter.

Earlier this month, Ukraine’s Prosecutor-General’s Office of Ukraine said that Russian troops had killed 16 captured Ukrainian soldiers in the partially occupied Donetsk region.

There has been no immediate response from Russian officials, and Express.co.uk are unable to verify the Ukrainian claims.

The Ukrainian air force said that its air defences had shot down 31 of 68 drones launched at Ukraine by Russia overnight on Saturday in the regions of Kyiv, Poltava, Chernihiv, Sumy and Cherkasy.

A further 36 drones were “lost” over various areas, it said, likely having been electronically jammed.

The air force added that ballistic missiles struck Odesa and Poltava while Chernihiv and Sumy came under attack by a guided air missile. Local authorities didn't report any casualties or damage.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia had launched around 900 guided aerial bombs, more than 40 missiles and 400 drones against Ukraine over the past week.

Zelenskyy appealed on X to Ukraine’s allies to “provide the necessary quantity and quality of air defence systems” and “make decisions for our sufficient range.”

Kyiv is still awaiting word from its Western partners on its repeated requests to use the long-range weapons they provide to hit targets on Russian soil.

In Russia, the Defense Ministry said that 13 Ukrainian drones were shot down over three regions of Russia: six each in the Belgorod and Kursk regions, and one in the Bryansk region, all of which border Ukraine.