Kyiv accuses Moscow of executing two Ukrainian prisoners of war

As the Russian army continues its offensive near Avdiivka, the Ukrainian army accuses Russia of shooting two of its prisoners in the east of the country. the authenticity of the video, which is difficult to verify, has not yet been confirmed by Kyiv.

Kyiv once again accuses Moscow of violating humanitarian law. On Sunday, February 18, the Ukrainian army claimed that Russia shot two Ukrainian prisoners of war in the east of the country. “The Russians have once again shown their attitude towards international humanitarian law by shooting two Ukrainian prisoners of war,” the country’s ground forces said on Telegram. pilot, the authenticity of which is difficult to confirm and in which you can see a soldier shooting two soldiers who are very close to him in the same trench, and they do not put up any resistance. Without mentioning where this incident took place, the Ukrainian army only indicates that it was in the area of ​​’Khortytsia’.

The area consists of Kharkiv, Lugansk and part of Donetsk, but not the city of Avdiivka, which the Russian army took control of the day before after months of heavy fighting. of Article 3 of the Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War, which determines that killing a soldier who has surrendered is a war crime, reports our correspondent in Kiev, Emmanuelle Chaze. Early on Saturday after the announcement of the fall of the town of Avdiïvka to the Russian army, pictures circulated online showing other Ukrainian soldiers lying on the ground, their hands tied, also apparently killed, while Oleksandr Tarnavskiy, the commander of the operation in the east country, he confirms that several of them were arrested when the Ukrainian soldiers had surrendered. two injured, in the area south of Avdika, probably on Thursday. The Ukrainian authorities have so far not commented on these allegations.

Moscow and Kyiv have already been accused several times of killing prisoners of war since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In March 2023, a video showing a captured Ukrainian soldier, being shot dead after saying ‘glory to Ukraine’, went viral. international humanitarian law against prisoners of war, including the brutal killing of surrendered prisoners in the hands of authorities on the part of Russia and Ukraine.