Two Ukrainian soldiers are shot in a trench – then they are left seemingly lifeless.
After the footage went viral, Ukraine’s attorney general has opened an investigation into that incident and a case in Avdijivka where six more people were shot dead, the Kyiv Post reports.
Ukraine accuses Russia of shooting several Ukrainian prisoners of war.
According to Kyiv Post the Ukrainian Attorney General has opened an investigation into two cases. In a video clip being circulated, two Ukrainian prisoners of war are said to be running towards Russian soldiers who are opening fire with their automatic weapons.
“Serious crime”
“To eliminate any chance that the prisoners survived, the occupier deliberately killed them with automatic weapons,” writes the Office of the Attorney General in a statement.
Kyiv Post has not verified the time and place, but refers to the corresponding photos of the Ukrainian ground forces on February 18 near the village of Vesele in the Bachmut district.
Another video has been released via Russian Telegram channels, according to the newspaper. There, six more prisoners of war are said to have been executed in the hard-hit Avdijivka. According to the public prosecutor, they must then have been “seriously injured and unable to move on their own”.
“Murder of prisoners of war is a gross violation of the Geneva Convention for the Treatment of Prisoners of War and a serious international crime,” they write further in the statement.
Recognized her husband’s tattoo
Several relatives have said that they recognized their relatives in the film clips. A woman who spoke to the Ukrainian media Slidstvo.Info recognized his brother’s clothes and water bottle. Another recognized her husband’s tattoo.
– I woke up and started searching these Russian sites at 22.30. Then I found this video and I recognized him by his tattoo.
Both Russia and Ukraine have been accused by the UN of executing prisoners of war and reports that have been released testify to several war crimes, mainly from the Russian side, but also from the Ukrainian side, since the full-scale war broke out.