MOSCOW.- Russian forces have executed at least 15 people “in cold blood” since the beginning of December. military Ukrainians who wanted to surrender on the front lines and another six who had already surrendered or were in the process, according to an investigation by the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW), who carried out an in-depth investigation of what they consider war crimes.
The organization analyzed images captured by drones corresponding to December 2 and 27 and February 16, 19 and 25. Although in some of the cases the experts have not been able to verify the exact location of the events, they have confirmed that the victims were soldiers who were no longer participating in combat and, therefore, should not be considered a target despite the existence of a conflict. armed.
In one of these cases, the images even show how at least seven Ukrainian soldiers left the trench and removed their protection to stand before five armed Russian soldiers. Three of the latter opened fire and six of the Ukrainians collapsed, while the seventh tried unsuccessfully to return to the trench before being also shot down.
In another video, allegedly captured by a Russian drone, a voice is heard proclaiming: “Take no prisoners, shoot everyone.” HRW concludes that these are not isolated incidents in any case, since in fact the reports of the UN Human Rights mission also include cases of summary executions since the beginning of the Russian invasion in February 2022 and the Ukrainian Prosecutor’s Office has 27 investigations opened relating to the death of 54 prisoners of war.
HRW contacted the Russian Defense Ministry, but has not received a response, and reminded Moscow that such practices clearly violate international law. For this reason, he demanded that the abuses be investigated and responsibilities also be determined at the highest level, given that in at least one of the cases there could have been a direct order for summary execution.
“While each of these cases is horrific, perhaps most reprehensible is the evidence that in at least one of them Russian forces gave explicit orders to kill soldiers rather than allow them to surrender, which would imply supporting the commission of war crimes,” lamented HRW’s associate director for crisis and conflict issues, Belkis Wille.
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AP
Source: With information from Europa Press
