Ukrainian authorities have announced the initiation of an investigation into the possible shooting of six unarmed Ukrainian soldiers by Russian troops in the town of Avdiivka and two more in the nearby village of Vesele.
Previously, the Russian side declared full control over the city.
The press service of the Donetsk Regional Prosecutor's Office reported on Sunday, February 18, that criminal proceedings had been opened in connection with a violation of the laws and customs of war, which led to premeditated murder.
According to the investigation, a message appeared on the Telegram channel about the execution of six captured Ukrainian soldiers at one of the positions in the city of Avdiivka.
“The defenders were seriously injured and could not move independently, they were waiting for evacuation,” the prosecutors emphasized.
“Russian armed forces are systematically and cynically violating the norms of international humanitarian law in the territory of Donetsk region. The information disseminated on social networks demonstrates the killings of unarmed Ukrainian fighters and serves as further evidence of the crimes committed by the occupiers,” the Donetsk region prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
There is also a video recording with a fragment of the killing of two more Ukrainian soldiers in a forest strip near the village of Vesele, Bakhmut district. On Sunday, a video appeared on the official Telegram channel of the Land Forces of Ukraine, probably shot from a drone, showing people in military uniform in a narrow trench.
The footage shows an armed person, likely a Russian serviceman, approaching two people in uniform, likely members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and then shooting them both.
The Ukrainians in the footage do not seem to be resisting and are in a narrow trench alone. After some time, a Russian soldier is probably shooting at the wounded again.
“Not wanting to leave the prisoners alive, the occupier is deliberately finishing them off with automatic weapons,” the prosecutor's office said in a statement.
The killing of prisoners of war is a serious violation of the Geneva Conventions and qualifies as a grave international crime.
Dmytro Lykhovii, spokesman for the Tavria Operational-Strategic Group of Forces, said in a comment that as of the evening of February 18, information regarding the alleged shooting of Ukrainian prisoners in Avdiivka was still being established.
“There is no denial or confirmation. The investigation is ongoing, and there is no way to confirm or deny this yet, but the Russians have committed war crimes repeatedly. They will be held accountable for this,” Lykhovoi said.
The Russian Defense Ministry has not yet responded to these reports. Ukrainian prosecutors have repeatedly accused Russia of killing prisoners of war.
Moscow denies these accusations.
It is also known that on February 18, the DeepState project published information that, according to their data, six Ukrainian servicemen were shot in Avdiivka at the “Museum” (“Zenit”) positions, presumably on February 15.
“The brothers recognized the fighters from a video that recently spread online. In the footage, the shot bodies lie in the premises of Garage No. 1,” the DeepState Telegram channel noted.
Analysts also indicated that the museum is located on the territory of the former military unit "Zenit".
"Due to the fact that the positions were surrounded for several days, everyone who could walk had to fight their way back to the main forces. Unfortunately, there were four wounded who could not move, and two who could still move but had no chance of breaking through without evacuation," the report says.
The publication "Slidstvo.Info" spoke with the mother, wife and sister of three Ukrainian servicemen who were at the "Zenit" positions in Avdiivka. According to them, they recognized their brother, husband and son in the video from Russian public forums, where the dead are seen in the military uniform of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
“I recognized him by his tattoo. His colleague confirmed to me that it was him,” the wife of one of the servicemen is quoted as saying in the investigation.
The mother of another serviceman, Inna, said that her son was wounded on February 14 and has been waiting for evacuation ever since: “They waited for the car for three days, he wasn’t wounded yet, and on the 14th he was wounded, he has shrapnel wounds, his back…” Inna is quoted in the article.
In December 2023, the Ukrainian military command reported that Russian servicemen near Avdiivka shot and killed two Ukrainian fighters who had surrendered. The video, shot from a drone, was published online on December 2.
In March 2023, a video was circulated on social media showing Russians killing an unarmed Ukrainian fighter after shouting “Glory to Ukraine!”
The deceased was identified as 42-year-old Oleksandr Matsievsky, a sniper from the 119th separate brigade of the TRO of the Chernihiv region.
The video of the execution shows a Ukrainian soldier standing in the forest and smoking in a trench or dug hole, then saying “Glory to Ukraine,” after which he is shot. In the spring of 2023, a video of the murder, probably of a Ukrainian soldier by a Russian fighter, began to spread. The very harsh footage filmed the beheading of a still-living prisoner.
For its part, Russia announced in November last year that Russian soldiers were shot during their capture in the village of Makiivka, Luhansk region.
Then, a Ukrainian military video captured a group of Russians leaving a building with their hands raised and surrendering. However, at some point, shooting begins.
Later, the video shows the bodies of at least 11 Russian soldiers.
The Kremlin has accused Ukraine of committing a war crime. However, international experts have stressed that the situation is not clear-cut.
The point is that the video shows the moment when one of the Russian soldiers is the first to open fire while capturing most of his comrades.
This action by Russian soldiers can be regarded as a “simulation of surrender.”.
According to the Geneva Convention, feigning surrender for the purpose of firing on the enemy is considered a war crime.
