The Ukrainian army's withdrawn 110th Brigade said on Monday that Russia promised to provide medical care to the wounded who stayed behind and then exchange them for Russian prisoners of war. However, those who remained have now been identified as dead. On Tuesday, the media reconstructed the evacuation from the city and the alleged murder of the injured with reference to eyewitness reports and videos.
The Ukrainian prosecutor's office had previously announced that it had opened an investigation into war crimes and murders following the shooting of six seriously injured Ukrainians by the Russian army. In another case near the city of Wessele, also in the Donetsk region, there was also a drone video in which two more Ukrainian soldiers were shot after being captured.
Late retreat
According to the BBC, the situation in Avdiivka was “chaotic”. For weeks, the soldiers of the “Zenith” position fought a “desperate battle” for Avdiivka. After some time, they repeatedly asked their commanders to remove them from their positions due to the threat of being surrounded by Russian soldiers. But their requests were rejected.
It was only on February 13th that the “Zenith” soldiers were ordered to find another position in Avdiivka. But it was too late, the BBC reported, citing soldiers who managed to leave the small town. The Russian military had already surrounded the position. Because of the heavy shelling, the wounded had to be left behind. CNN quoted the order: “Leave the wounded behind and burn everything!”
A total of six people remained in “Zenith”, five of them were injured and could no longer walk. But they were alive, the soldiers reported. The sixth person would have voluntarily remained with the injured. Everyone would have thought they would be captured and given medical care in accordance with international law.
The bodies of these men were later identified through video recording. According to CNN, a Russian military blogger published the video on Friday. Not only the corpses can be seen, but also the emblems of the Russian troops that had previously attacked the city and the “Zenith” position. Moscow has not commented on the allegations.
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“Bitter Struggles”
In fact, the Ukrainian military spoke of “fierce fighting” in the small eastern Ukrainian town last week. “Our troops are using all available forces and means to repel the enemy,” said General Oleksandr Tarnavsky. The first positions were relocated on 13 February and some pieces were withdrawn from Avdiivka on 15 February. Two days later, military leaders announced they were leaving the city to “protect the soldiers’ lives.”
For Ukraine, the small industrial town of Avdiivka was a symbol of resistance against aggressors. Avdiivka is located about ten kilometers from the regional capital Donetsk and is largely destroyed. Most of the once 34,000 residents have long since fled. The city is also of great importance for Ukraine because pro-Russian separatists controlled by Moscow had already taken Avdiivka in July 2014, but Ukrainian units brought it back under their control shortly afterwards.
Well-known Ukrainian military blogger Yuri Butusov has now published the names of the dead: “These wounded were unable to move independently and there were no evacuation vehicles available to transport them.” Butusov wrote that the Russian military “executed the defenseless and unarmed wounded.”