Ukraine has launched an investigation into the “execution” of its unarmed soldiers by Russian forces despite the soldiers signalling their intention to surrender.
Kyiv accused Russia on Sunday of committing a “war crime” after a short video posted on Telegram on Saturday showed the two men coming out of a shelter, one with his hands above his head, before lying on the ground in front of another group of soldiers.
“The video shows how a group of people in Russian uniforms shoot at close range two unarmed servicemen in the uniform of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who surrendered as prisoners,” the public prosecutor’s office in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk wrote.
“Investigators and prosecutors have started an investigation.
“The killing of prisoners of war is a gross violation of the Geneva Conventions and is classified as a serious international crime,” the public prosecutor’s office said of the video, the authenticity of which has been verified by the AFP news agency.
The public prosecutor’s office in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk said that according to “preliminary data”, the images were filmed near the village of Stepove, close to Avdiivka, an eastern town where fighting is raging.
The Ukrainian army’s strategic communications centre said on Saturday it possessed “confirmed information” that the video showed the “execution” by Russian forces of “unarmed soldiers”.
Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets denounced the events as a “war crime”.
“Today, a video of the execution by Russian servicemen of Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered as prisoners appeared online! This is another violation of the Geneva Conventions and disrespect for international humanitarian law!” he wrote on Telegram.
The speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, further accused Russian forces of violating the rules of war, while Ukrainian army officials urged the international community to hold Russia’s military leadership “accountable”.
There was no official reaction from Moscow on the video, as Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency reported on Sunday that Lubinets, the human rights ombudsman and Russia’s Commissioner for Human Rights Tatiana Moskalkova plan to conduct several mutual visits to prisoners of war.
“Russian military personnel will be visited on the Ukrainian side. Ukrainian military personnel will be visited on the Russian side.
There will be several of these visits, we have a schedule,” RIA quoted Moskalkova as saying.
There have been numerous accusations since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine of Russian forces committing war crimes. (AlJazeera)