The Russian military uses captured Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers during the assault on Ukrainian positions.
The corresponding video appeared on the Internet, and subsequently it was analyzed by Radio Liberty, verifying the authenticity of the video. Human Rights Commissioner Dmitry Lubinets has already responded to the video.
What the video shows
The video taken from the drone was shared by the Ukrainian military with journalists from Radio Liberty. According to the publication, after verification, the events take place near Robotino, Zaporozhye region. However, the exact location is not indicated at the request of the military.
Now watching
In the footage you can see how a group of occupiers with machine guns is walking towards the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and in front of them are three unarmed people in military uniforms, which differ from the uniform of the occupiers. These are probably Ukrainian soldiers who were captured by the Russian military. Ukrainian prisoners walk forward, holding their hands up.
The video also shows how the Russians periodically open fire with machine guns towards the Ukrainian positions, and one of the occupiers physically covers himself with a Ukrainian prisoner, holding him by the shoulder with one hand.
According to Radio Liberty, which refers to Ukrainian Armed Forces fighters, the Russians tried to conduct “reconnaissance” and identify fire weapons on Ukrainian positions, and in order to protect themselves from the fire of the Defense Forces, the soldiers of the Russian army decided to hide behind prisoners of war.
Then in the video you can see that a battle breaks out and a grenade probably explodes near a group of invaders and unarmed Ukrainian prisoners, after which the invaders begin to retreat. Ukrainian prisoners begin to run in the opposite direction from the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and the Russians walk behind them. After which the occupiers shoot several times in the direction of one of the unarmed prisoners, who in subsequent frames lies on the ground.
It is not yet known what the future fate of these Ukrainian prisoners will be. According to Radio Liberty, Russian troops of the 234th Airborne Assault Regiment as part of the 76th Airborne Assault Division of the Russian Federation are stationed in this direction.
Do you want to relax? Go to Facti.GAMES!
Ombudsman's reaction
Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmitry Lubinets called this video “immoral and cynical” and stated that if the data witnessed on the video is confirmed, then this will become another record of human rights violations by Russia.
— If the video activities are established as official and truthful — this will indicate that the Russian Federation has violated another article of the third Geneva Conventions. Namely, Article 23, which says that no prisoner of war can ever be sent to an area where he would be at risk of fire from a combat zone. And also prisoners of war cannot be used to protect any points or areas from military operations, — he explained.
The Ombudsman noted that the Russian-Ukrainian war is probably one of the “most captured”, and therefore the Ukrainian side must provide the competent authorities with all information about the war crimes committed by the Russians, so that bring the aggressor country and the war criminals involved to justice.
Execution of captured Ukrainians by the occupiers
This is not the first time that Russian occupiers have abused or killed Ukrainian prisoners. So, in early December, a video appeared showing how the Russian occupiers captured two Ukrainian fighters, and then shot the unarmed defenders of Ukraine on the spot.
