The clip was published by the Ukrainian analysis group Deepstate this weekend. They state to SVT Nyheter that it was filmed by a Ukrainian drone south of the town of Stepove. SVT Nyheter has been able to verify that the location information is correct.
What appears to be a Ukrainian soldier steps out of a parapet with his hands over his head. Waiting outside are what look like several Russian soldiers. He lies down on the ground.
Shortly afterwards, another soldier steps out of the guard. He appears to fall towards the Russian soldiers, who then open fire on the seemingly unarmed Ukrainians.
May have been filmed recently
The area has long been controlled by Ukraine, but geolocated videos show that the Russians have been advancing there in recent weeks. It is therefore likely that the film shows a Russian advance towards a Ukrainian position.
The film is grainy and it is difficult to say with certainty which side the people involved belong to. But the soldiers who fire their weapons have darker uniforms than those who are shot. Russian uniforms are generally darker than Ukrainian ones.
Deepstate states that the video was filmed on December 1, something SVT Nyheter could not verify. In the video, however, two craters are visible. With the help of satellite images, we can establish that they appeared after October 30. This means that the video must have been filmed after that.
Ukraine: Killed the Russians
The incident is now being investigated as a war crime by Ukrainian authorities.
“The murder of prisoners of war is a serious crime against the Geneva Convention”, writes Ukraine’s Attorney General Telegram.
Oleksandr Shtupun, spokesperson for the Ukrainian military, claimed on Monday that the responsible Russian soldiers had been killed, writes Ukrainian Pravda.
– I can confirm that the group of Russian occupiers who committed this crime ceased to exist during further hostilities, he says.
Russia has not yet commented on the matter. Ukrainian authorities have not released the names of the dead, according to sources Suspilne are currently considered “missing” as the bodies have not been found.