A chilling video emerged on Tuesday that allegedly shows Ukrainian troops executing Russian prisoners of war. The video is so gruesome that it has been condemned by many and Russian are now accusing Ukraine of war crimes. The footage begins with the apparent assassination of a critically injured Russian serviceman who was laying on the side of the road.
Besides, several other videos have emerged that purportedly show Ukrainian soldiers arresting and torturing Russian soldiers. The Investigative Committee of Russia has now launched a criminal investigation, with experts tasked with determining the facts of the occurrence, as well as its date and location as well as the identity of the Ukrainian troops who feature in it.
Blames and Counter Blames
According to RT, the footage begins with the apparent execution of a critically injured Russian soldier who was laying on the side of the road. "Look, he's still alive," says the narrator. Before shots were fired at the defenseless soldier, a voice off screen observed, "He's wheezing."
It then cuts to armed men with Ukrainian military insignia on their uniforms cheering as they stroll amid the dead of several more Russians, who are spread on the ground nearby in puddles of blood.
The video also shows the hands of one of the captured soldiers tied behind his back who appears to have been killed with a point-blank shot to the head. Other soldiers' necks may have been slit, according to some reports.
In the footage, Ukrainian servicemen can be heard chanting "Glory to Ukraine!" Glory to Heroes!" - a Nazi collaborators' motto that has been adopted by the country's military – and discussed what stuff they could scavenge from the bodies.
Russia Investigates
The clip's location and date of recording are still unknown. However, Russian media speculated that it was shot in the same area outside of Kiev as a video released on March 30 by the UNIAN news agency.
This video didn't show any POWs being executed, but it did appear to show at least one of the same Ukrainian fighters with a seized Russian armored vehicle.
The Investigative Committee in Russia has now launched a criminal case and experts have been ordered to determine the facts of the occurrence, as well as its date and location as well as the identity of the Ukrainian troops who feature in it.
This isn't the first time a video purporting to depict Ukrainian military torture of captured Russian servicemen has surfaced online during the fighting.
Besides, Russia has launched an investigation separately after a violent video purporting to show Ukrainian soldiers torturing prisoners of war surfaced online. The head of the Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin, has ordered "investigators to establish all the circumstances of the incident, collect and record evidence and identify all the persons involved in it to subsequently bring them to justice."
Multiple persons, presumably Russian prisoners of war, are seen laying on the ground in the footage. All of the soldiers appear to have been beaten severely and have leg wounds.
Armed men question the injured soldiers, many of them are wearing blue armbands, which are prevalent among Ukrainian units. During the interrogation, some of the wounded people appear to have died. Three additional prisoners are also shown being ordered out of a van and having their legs shot at point-blank range.
