Ukraine said on Saturday that it was contacting the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) after the alleged execution of a Ukrainian soldier on the battlefield by a Russian soldier.
“The Russians shot dead an apparently wounded and unarmed Ukrainian soldier. They filmed this and the video is spreading online,” Dmytro Loubinets, Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, said on his Telegram account. “I am sending a letter to the ICRC and the UN, it is a violation of the Geneva conventions, of international humanitarian law,” he continued.
The video in question, undated and not authenticated by AFP, shows a man on the ground, in Ukrainian army uniform. The person filming him approaches him, asks him where he is from and if there are other “pederasts” in the area, talking about Ukrainian troops. The man replies that he comes from the Sumy region, in northeastern Ukraine, and that there are no other kyiv soldiers in the area. Then an armed man enters the video frame and shoots him in the head with a Kalashnikov.
“If you don’t address this, crimes will repeat. Evil that is not punished always comes back,” denounced Dmytro Loubinets, castigating the “cynicism and cruelty” of the Russian army.
Ukraine and Russia have repeatedly accused each other of having killed prisoners of war since the start of the Russian invasion launched in February 2022. This week, kyiv announced on Tuesday that it was investigating the alleged execution of six of its soldiers after their capture in the east of its territory by Russian forces.
