Ukraine launches investigation into Russia, citing war crimes and killing of POWs

Ukrainian authorities open war crimes inquiry following reports of Russian forces executing Ukrainian soldiers

A war crimes inquiry was opened on Sunday by Ukrainian authorities in response to two unsettling occurrences in which it was claimed that Russian forces had executed Ukrainian soldiers. The probe was made public in reaction to several reports that described the killing of Ukrainian troops who had been taken prisoner, adding a horrific new chapter to the confrontation between Russia and Ukraine.

One of the events features a terrifying moment in which two Ukrainian troops are seen approaching a person described as a Russian soldier inside a trench. The footage was shared by the Ukrainian army. The video, which is said to be low quality and was taken from the air, apparently shows the Russian soldier grabbing hold of the Ukrainian troops and shooting them at close range. The Russian soldier is also shown firing even while the Ukrainian soldiers lie on the ground.

News organizations have not yet independently confirmed the video’s veracity, nor its location or the chronology of the events it shows. On social media, however, Ukraine’s ground troops denounced the action, writing, “This morning… the Russians once again showed their attitude to international humanitarian law by shooting two Ukrainian prisoners of war.”

Based on the video and its ability to identify the exact site of the event near Vesele in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine announced the initiation of a war crimes inquiry. The bureau also said that it is looking into claims that six injured Ukrainian troops were executed while fleeing Avdiivka. According to allegations from the DeepState Telegram channel, which has connections to the Ukrainian military, these men, who were wounded too badly to evacuate, were subsequently recognized by their fellow soldiers in a video posted on Russian social media networks.

“The killing of prisoners of war is a gross violation of the Geneva Convention relative to the treatment of prisoners of war and a grave international crime,” the prosecutor for Ukraine highlighted in his statement. These events highlight the conflict’s unrelenting cruelty, as both Moscow and Kyiv have accused one another of violating international humanitarian law and executing prisoners of war.

Russia has not yet addressed these most recent accusations. The continuing conflict, which was sparked by Russia’s invasion, has been marked by several alleged crimes. Throughout the two-year war, the United Nations has recorded many incidents of summary killings and torture of seized Ukrainian troops, underlining the grave violations of human rights that are taking place.

Source: AFP