“Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, its forces have committed many heinous war crimes,” said Belkis Wille, deputy crisis and conflict director at Human Rights Watch.
“This shameful legacy also includes mass executions, or murders – the cold-blooded shooting of surrendering and wounded Ukrainian soldiers. International humanitarian law expressly forbids that,” she added.
HRW said on its website that it investigated a total of five cases, three of which involved the “apparent executions” of at least 12 Ukrainian soldiers without any trial. It used verification and analysis of drone footage posted on social media.
We have no rotation, food or drink at the front. The command gives us strange orders, a Ukrainian marine told Novinka
The war in Ukraine
According to HRW, the footage clearly shows that the Ukrainian soldiers surrendered and had no intention of fighting. “They were not the target of an attack under international humanitarian law or the law of war,” the organization explains.
In the fourth incident analyzed, two Russian soldiers shot dead three surrendering unarmed Ukrainian soldiers. The last one was an interview of a Ukrainian soldier, from which it follows that the occupiers murdered six more Ukrainian soldiers.
The law of war requires parties to an international armed conflict to treat prisoners humanely in all circumstances. Deliberate killing, ill-treatment or torture is a war crime and any order to execute is strictly prohibited.
A Russian drone grabbed both of my legs, I fought near Verbova, a Ukrainian soldier told Novinka
The war in Ukraine
