Horrible video footage of eastern Ukraine.
A five-minute video was posted on Sunday on the Telegram messaging service, which allegedly shows possible war crimes committed by Ukrainian soldiers and volunteer fighters against Russian prisoners of war.
► The video shows around 20 Ukrainian suspects manipulating, interrogating and – particularly badly – shooting around 10 alleged Putin soldiers after they have already surrendered and are tied up. The footage shows a shot aimed at the legs of three Russian prisoners.
About seven other Russians are lying on the ground with gunshot wounds to their legs.
The video generated repercussions on social media. This is another reason why an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj (44) commented on the horror recordings just hours later, condemned them and promised an investigation by the military.
In an interview with Russian activist Mark Feygin, Oleksiy Arestovych explains that the video shows “absolutely unacceptable behavior. This is a war crime.” Arestovych stressed that “there will be an investigation” and those responsible will be “severely” punished. The promise and certainly also the appeal of the Ukrainian government adviser to its own troops: “We do not mistreat prisoners of war , we are a European army”.
BILD analysis: torture video appears to be real
︎ BILD checked the video carefully and viewed it by two Russian and Ukrainian language experts. They confirmed: The alleged Ukrainian perpetrators in the video speak Russian, but sometimes with an audible Ukrainian dialect.
▶︎ BILD also verified one made by independent analysts location of the scene and can confirm that it took place on Saturday or Sunday in the small town of Mala Rohan, about three kilometers south of the eastern Ukrainian metropolis of Kharkiv – in a dairy north of the city.
︎ Ukrainian journalist Yuri Butusov reports that Mala Rohan was recaptured by Ukrainian troops on Saturday. “More than 30 Russian soldiers and their designated mercenaries from the occupied territories were captured.”
︎ The attack, activists confirmed to BILD, was carried out by Ukrainian soldiers from the Ukrainian army’s 92nd Mechanized Brigade and volunteer squads associated with the “Azov Regiment”.
An analysis by BILD shows that both regular Ukrainian soldiers and fighters with the “Azov” insignia can be seen on it, that is, exactly this mix of Ukrainian troops who took Russian prisoners of war into the region at the time in question.
An alleged Ukrainian fighter mistreats a Russian prisoner while three others look on. One of them (center) may be wearing the badge of the Azov Regiment of the Ukrainian National Guard on his armPhoto: private
In short, there are many indications that Ukrainian troops committed a war crime against Russian military prisoners in Mala Rohan. However, the incident remains isolated and does not appear systematic. Dozens of videos show the humane treatment of Russian prisoners of war by Ukrainian soldiers.
According to information from BILD, more than 1,500 Russian soldiers have been captured so far. For the most part, they are faring much better than women and children besieged and shot by Russian soldiers in various areas of Ukraine – first and foremost in the completely destroyed port city of Mariupol.
Unlike the Ukrainian leadership, the Putin regime has not admitted a single crime of its own, let alone initiated an investigation into its own military.