The drone footage, which has not yet been independently verified, has caused outrage and led to criticism of alleged war crimes committed by Russian forces.
Seven Ukrainian soldiers were killed while surrendering to Putin’s army near the village of Ivanovskoye in the Bakhmut region.
In the video, the Ukrainian prisoners are shown dropping their weapons and then crawling out of the trench.
The video depicts individuals raising their arms to signal they were not carrying any weapons, then lowering themselves to the ground with their hands placed behind their heads.
In distressing scenes, which have been omitted from publication, Russian forces proceed to fire machine guns at the vulnerable soldiers on the ground.
According to some sources, the Ukrainian fighters were either from the 92nd Separate Assault Brigade or from the units assigned to it.
Some of those who were executed might have included injured military personnel.
Ukrainian Pravda reported that an investigation has been initiated by the prosecutor’s office in Ukraine regarding a video likely recorded on February 24.
Russia has been accused of intentionally disregarding international humanitarian law, with allegations of premeditated murder.
Possible Intentional Killing of Injured Ukrainian Soldier Raises War Crime Concerns
The video will need to go through checks and verification before it can be used as evidence of a war crime, but at first glance, the shooting seems to be a serious breach of the rules of conflict.
As per the prosecutor’s office, the individual intentionally targeted and killed injured and defenseless Ukrainian soldiers.
Currently, there are 19 criminal proceedings under investigation related to the murder of 45 Ukrainian prisoners of war.
Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, has condemned the deadly incident.
He accused the Russian army of “mercilessly” killing Ukrainian prisoners and disregarding the Geneva Convention on his Telegram channel.
Lubinets has promised to formally contact the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross to document the Russian “war crimes” publicly.
He claimed that the Russian army disregards the Geneva Conventions, rules, and customs of war.
They behave in accordance with their unspoken norms – cruelty, meanness, baseness.
“Such killings of prisoners of war are not isolated incidents. There must be consequences for them!
The video started spreading online after being shared on the open-source intelligence site, Deep State’s Telegram channel.
The organization led by volunteers stated: “The individuals who were shot are likely members of the 92nd OSHBr or one of the units under their command.”
“Yesterday, there was hope that the boys from the position were alive and in captivity, but today’s footage reveals the execution of Defense Forces fighters.”
This isn’t the initial instance of soldiers loyal to Putin being captured on video carrying out Ukrainian soldiers.