Vladimir Putin’s Russian troops are being accused of a new war crime, as a video has emerged showing an executioner asking his comrades to film at least six Ukrainian prisoners of war being shot to death in cold blood.
kyiv has launched a criminal investigation and reported the barbaric mass murder to the United Nations and the Red Cross.
Savage Russian soldiers in the occupied Donetsk region film themselves committing the illegal battlefield massacre.
“This is mine,” says one of the Russian soldiers after demanding, “Give me two machine guns.”
The prisoners of war are seen lying face down on the ground while the occupiers decide to kill them.
“Take the camera,” a Russian is heard saying. ‘Pick up the phone, pick up the phone, pick up the phone, pick up the phone, film me.’
The prisoners are told: ‘Fuck you here, one at a time, hurry up.’ One at a time. Over here, on your knees.
They are ordered: ‘Go, go, we will kill you anyway.’
At least two Russians are seen shooting the kneeling victims from behind. Others were shot as they walked to the scene of the murder.
Savage Russian soldiers in the occupied Donetsk region are filmed committing battlefield atrocities.
Ukrainian soldiers seen cowering in fear moments before being shot dead
Some were forced to kneel or lie down, others were shot while walking to the execution site.
Ukrainian human rights defender Dmytro Lubinets said: “In the video, the occupiers themselves recorded their own crime: shooting six captured Ukrainian soldiers in the back.
‘The video cuts off when the seventh soldier lies on the ground, his fate unknown.
‘The shooting of each of the captured soldiers is carried out in front of other comrades.
‘At the same time, the occupants order them ‘to lie down and close their mouths.’
‘The crime ‘operator’ shouts, “One is mine,” and we then see him firing a series of bullets into the back of one of the POWs.’
Lubinets noted: “The Russian army has never been famous for its dignified treatment of prisoners of war, and here it once again demonstrates its impotence and criminality.”
It has sent details to the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
‘The lack of responsibility has turned crime into something systematic.
‘We cannot turn a blind eye to this.
“Ukraine needs justice and accountability for those who commit crimes and do not respect any rules.”
The Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office said: “During the assault on the positions of Ukrainian troops in the Donetsk region, the occupiers captured six servicemen of the Ukrainian Defense Forces and subsequently shot them.
“The shooting of prisoners of war is a serious violation of the Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War and is classified as a serious international crime.”
It comes as Western officials said around 1,000 “elite” North Korean troops, allegedly led by Russian officers who “don’t understand”, have been massacred in just three months while fighting against Ukraine.
A Russian soldier is seen bluntly telling the Ukrainian prisoners that he is going to kill them.
Western officials say around 1,000 ‘elite’ North Korean troops reported to have been led by Russian officers who ‘don’t understand’ have been massacred in just three months.
North Korean troops in eastern Russia receive training ahead of deployment with Vladimir Putin’s forces
Vladimir Putin chats with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un upon Putin’s arrival at Pyongyang International Airport in Pyongyang, North Korea, in June 2024.
North Korea sent about 11,000 troops and 4,000 have been killed, wounded, missing or captured.
Officials who spoke anonymously said about 1,000 of them had been killed by mid-January.
The North Korean troops, supposedly belonging to an “elite” unit called the Storm Corps, appear to have been thrown into the war with little training or protection.
Former British Army tank commander Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon said they are “barely trained” and led by “Russian officers whom they don’t understand”.
He said the troops “don’t stand a chance and are being used as ‘cannon fodder’.”
These losses are unsustainable for the North Koreans and point to a very high cost for Vladimir Putin’s ally.
He is trying to get rid of Ukrainian forces in Russia ahead of any possible ceasefire negotiations later this year.