The Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office has launched an investigation into the allegations that Ukrainian forces executed Russian forces that had surrendered last weekend.
Earlier this month, videos were posted on social media that appeared to show Ukrainians killing 11 Russian soldiers as Ukrainian forces recaptured the village of Makiivka, though there are gaps in the videos. Kyiv and Moscow have each alleged the other side committed war crimes in this incident.
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The Luhansk Regional Prosecutor’s Office will investigate “perfidy,” or to feign surrendering only to take advantage of the element of surprise, Ukraine’s prosecutor general’s office said on Tuesday.
In the video, six Russian soldiers are seen laying on their stomachs as four more surrender and join them. At least three Ukrainian soldiers were shown in the videos of this incident. An eleventh Russian soldier emerged from the same area and opened fire on the Ukrainian soldiers. The soldier filming jerks the camera and then the video cuts out.
The gunman appeared to be dead near the spot he opened fire, while the soldiers who had been laying on their stomachs appear to be dead as well, according to an aerial view of the surroundings viewed by the New York Times.
“During the pretrial investigation, measures will be taken to establish all the circumstances of this event, as well as a legal assessment will be provided to all its participants,” the statement continued.
Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, said on Sunday that “returning fire is not a war crime.”
Beth Van Schaack, U.S. ambassador-at-large for global criminal justice, told reporters on Monday that the U.S. is “obviously tracking that quite closely.”
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“It’s really important to emphasize that the laws of war apply to all parties equally, both the aggressor state and the defender state, and this is in equal measure,” Van Schaack explained. “But when it comes to the war in Ukraine, that’s really where the equivalency ends. When we’re looking at the sheer scale of criminality exhibited by Russian forces, it’s enormous compared to the allegations that we have seen against Ukrainian forces.”
Similarly, Marta Hurtado, a spokeswoman for the U.N. Human Rights Office, told Reuters, “We are aware of the videos, and we are looking into them,” adding, “Allegations of summary executions of people hors de combat should be promptly, fully and, effectively investigated and any perpetrators held to account.”
