Ukraine launches investigation into video of alleged execution of Russian prisoners
Ukraine’s prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation following a video surfaced on social media that Moscow says shows Russian soldiers killed following surrendering to Ukrainian forces last weekend.
Ukraine’s Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets has claimed that the Russians staged a surrender and opened fire first, adding that “returning fire is not a war crime.”
The video — which has been geotagged by CNN — was recorded on the outskirts of the town of Makiivka, which is in the eastern Luhansk region, regarding 40 kilometers northeast of Lyman, but precise details of what happened remain unknown. be clear.
In a statement Tuesday, Ukraine’s General Prosecutor’s Office said the Luhansk Regional Prosecutor’s Office will investigate “perfidy” — actions aimed at gaining the enemy’s trust in order to gain military advantage — committed by Russian forces during their surrender, which which is prohibited by international humanitarian law.
“According to the results of media monitoring, it became known that in the village of Makiivka, in the Luhansk region, Russian servicemen, simulating their surrender to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, opened fire on the Ukrainian defenders. Such actions are prohibited by international humanitarian law,” the statement said.
During the pre-trial investigation, steps will be taken to establish all the circumstances of this event, as well as to provide a legal assessment of all its participants, it added.
On Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russia will do “everything possible” to find those responsible, adding that they must be “punished.”
Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets commented on the incident on Sunday, saying the Russians staged a surrender and opened fire first, adding that “returning fire is not a war crime.”
What the video appears to show: las edited images they appear to show Russian soldiers in an act of surrender, with several men lying on the ground facing each other with their hands above their heads. More soldiers are seen coming out of a building one by one and lying down next to them in the courtyard.
A voice apparently directing the surrender is heard shouting, “Come out, one by one. Which of you is the officer? Are you all out? Come out.”
After regarding 10 men are on the ground, another soldier emerges from the same building and appears to open fire in the direction of the Ukrainian soldiers directing the surrender.
A short burst of gunshots is heard before the video ends abruptly.
A second video filmed later from a drone over the same location shows the bodies of what appear to be the same Russian soldiers in the courtyard, most just meters from where they had been lying in the first video clip.
CNN has not been able to verify exactly what happened in the first video, and it is unclear what exactly happened in the period between these first images and the footage taken by the drone.
With information from Olga Voitovych and Radina Gigova.
