Russia Accuses Ukraine of War Crimes after Video of Soldiers Killing Unarmed Russian POWs Goes Viral

Russia accused Ukrainian forces of executing more than 10 Russian prisoners-of-war after a video purporting to be from the frontline went viral on social media earlier this week.

The footage on social media shows a group of Russian soldiers emerging from a building with their hands above their heads after which a Ukrainian soldier commands them to lie facedown.

However, one of the men who emerged from the building, clad in all black seemed to turn his gun on what appeared to be a Ukrainian unit of soldiers wearing yellow armbands.

The footage suggests that after that moment all the Russians, even the ones lying in a prone position, were killed in the violence that followed. There were at least 12 bodies.

A report by the Guardian said the incident may have taken place outside a house near Makiivka village which comes under the eastern Luhansk region. This is part of a wider area known as the Donbas.

The video shared and the location mentioned here could not be independently verified by News18. The Ukrainian defence ministry has not issued a statement while the Russian defence ministry said that this is not the first or the only war crime that the Ukrainian forces have committed.

Russia also alleged that the Western allies of Ukraine have ignored these incidents and have not questioned Ukraine regarding its conduct. The Russian defence ministry told the Guardian that the footage shows Russian soldiers being deliberately and methodically murdered by “degenerate Ukrainian soldiers.”

They said they would hold the Ukrainian government accountable for the deaths.

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, both sides have accused each other of committing war crimes. Ukraine alleges that Russia tortured innocent civilians while Russia also alleged that Ukrainian forces have tortured Russian-speaking Ukrainians in several areas.

The Zelensky-regime earlier said that it has told Ukrainian soldiers to adhere to Geneva convention which says that all prisoners of war should be treated humanely. It also bars ‘passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgement pronounced by a regularly constituted court’.

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