Firstly - according to Putin, this is not a war, but a "special operations" - so the Mayor he murdered was not a combatant
Secondly - killing them on the battlefield is quite different from kidnapping them and butchering them
Lets also remember that Ukrainian authorities ordered the civilian population to arms. That makes them combatants. It’s ugly business these two countries are involved in. Ukrainians are not consistently engaging with identifiable uniformed personnel. Civilians armed with RPG’s firing at Marked russian vehicles with uniformed troops.
Firstly - according to Putin, this is not a war, but a “special operations” - so the Mayor he murdered was not a combatant
Secondly - killing them on the battlefield is quite different from kidnapping them and butchering them