After the alleged shooting of Ukrainian prisoners of war by Russian soldiers, the Ukrainian authorities are investigating war crimes. A drone video released by the Ukrainian army on Sunday shows a Russian soldier firing numerous shots at close range at two prisoners of war who were running towards him in a trench. The men stop, the Russian soldier grabs them and continues firing at them even when they are already on the ground.
The authenticity of the video as well as the place and time of its creation could not initially be verified. With this act of violence, “the Russians have once again shown their attitude towards international humanitarian law,” said the Ukrainian army command in the online service Telegram.
The Prosecutor General’s Office in Kiev said it began investigating suspected war crimes. According to them, the incident occurred near the village of Vesele in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.
The General Prosecutor’s Office is also investigating reports of the alleged execution of six injured Ukrainian soldiers who remained behind after the Ukrainian withdrawal from the city of Avdiivka, which had been embattled for months.
The Telegram channel DeepState, which is close to the Ukrainian army, had previously reported on the case. Accordingly, the Ukrainian troops had to leave the men behind in Avdiivka when they withdrew because they were too seriously injured to be transported. According to DeepState, comrades later recognized the bodies of the six soldiers from videos posted on Russian websites.
“The killing of prisoners of war is a serious violation of the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war and a serious international crime,” said the Prosecutor General’s Office in Kiev. Russia initially did not respond to the allegations.
The killing of prisoners of war is a war crime. In the past, Ukrainian authorities had repeatedly accused Russia of killing unarmed Ukrainian soldiers. The United Nations documented several cases of arbitrary executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war as well as cases of torture.
