Russian executions of Ukrainian POWs: War crimes caught on tape
The Russians carried out two executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war, reports CNN. The news outlet has published two recordings. One of them shows three kneeling Ukrainian soldiers who fall to the ground a few seconds later. Another video shows soldiers lying face down, who were shot in May.
American broadcaster CNN released footage on Friday showing the execution of surrendering Ukrainian soldiers by Russian soldiers. The recording was made at the end of August near Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine.
The footage from Ukrainian military intelligence shows three soldiers walking to the middle of a dirt track and kneeling with their hands behind their heads. A few seconds later, they lie motionless, face down.
"Russian barbarism is a disgrace to humanity"
The second execution by the Russians is said to have taken place in the Robotyne region in May. The video shows Ukrainians emerging from the trenches with raised hands. The soldiers lie face down. Then, according to the footage, a Russian soldier known as "Turk" orders their execution.
A Ukrainian official, who requested some details be withheld to protect the unit's identity, said the event matched the pattern of other presumed executions that have become more frequent this year.
Sources in Ukrainian intelligence provided CNN with a list of 15 instances of alleged killings of surrendering Ukrainian soldiers by Russian soldiers. These incidents have occurred since November and are mostly supported by video or audio recordings.
The Ukrainian Prosecutor General told CNN that his office is investigating 28 similar incidents that have occurred since the start of the war, in which 62 Ukrainian soldiers were killed.
Executions are a Kremlin strategy
Russian forces are moving towards the strategic town of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine despite recent territorial gains by Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region in western Russia during an offensive aimed at forcing Moscow to divert some of its forces from Donbas to protect its own borders.
Ukrainian prosecutors told CNN that the alleged killings of prisoners constitute war crimes and are part of the Kremlin's strategy. "If prisoners of war surrender, if they show that they surrender, if they are without weapons in their hands, then summary execution is a war crime," Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin told CNN.
According to him, such crimes have occurred in different parts of Ukraine and were carried out by various Russian units. " Kyiv has now "an opportunity to claim that such policy could be (elevated) to crimes against humanity. This policy is orchestrated by Kremlin. It’s an order of specific commanders," he said.
The Russian Ministry of Defence did not respond to CNN's request for comment.
Executions "follow a specific pattern"
"The emergence of videos showing what appears to be a growing Russian tactic has presented a dilemma for Ukrainian commanders, who face the unenviable task of warning their troops and the world of Russian savagery, at the risk of sapping already drained Ukrainian morale," writes CNN.
A representative of the Ukrainian authorities, who provided the recording from the vicinity of Pokrovsk, said that the Ukrainian unit was aware of similar cases on the front lines that had not been made public.
Several Russian soldiers have been accused in Ukraine of such killings, including in the Zaporizhzhia region in the south of the country.
A source in the UN team investigating illegal, mass, or arbitrary executions told CNN that they had also analysed the alleged executions of Ukrainian soldiers. There are many of them. They follow a specific pattern. They indicate an ease, if not orders, to show no mercy, said the source.
