Ukraine to investigate video of captured Russian soldiers being shot
WARNING - GRAPHIC CONTENT: Ukraine will investigate a video that purports to show Ukrainian forces mistreating captured Russian soldiers.
The graphic clip, which has not been verified, shows soldiers lying on the ground. One man appears to have an injured leg, while others have blood gushing from their heads.
Other videos were shared on Telegram. In one obtained by the Washington Post, gunshots are heard and two men fall to the ground.
While the videos circulating online have not been verified, the Washington Post did determine through geolocation they were filmed in the Kharkiv region in the village of Malaya Rohan.
The videos started circulating on pro-Russian media channels just days after Ukrainian forces announced they had retaken Malaya Rohan from the Russian invaders.
Ukraine's Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova was asked about the videos, which outraged the Kremlin, in an interview on Sky News.
She said the videos could not be taken at face value.
"We need proof," she said on Monday.
"If militaries from (the) Ukrainian side are guilty, we will investigate them and take them to court."
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Sergii Nykyforov, the press spokesman for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, said the video must be assessed "in the context of both real and information wars".
He did not elaborate.
On Telegram, Oleksiy Arestovich, an advisor to Zelensky reminded military and civilian defence forces that abusing prisoners is a war crime and had no statute of limitations.
"I remind everyone that we are the European army of a European country," he said.
"We treat prisoners according to the Geneva Convention, no matter what your personal emotional motives."
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the video contained "monstrous images" and needed to be legally assessed.
He said those who took part in what he described as torture needed to be held responsible.
The chief commander of Ukraine's armed forces, Valery Zaluzhny, previously suggested Russia was behind the videos, and they were made in an attempt to "discredit" Ukrainian soldiers.
"The enemy produces and shares videos, with the inhuman treatment of alleged 'Russian prisoners' by 'Ukrainian soldiers' in order to discredit the Ukrainian Defence Forces," Zaluzhny said.
Russia has been accused of committing war crimes since Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine to invade over a month ago.
On Facebook, the Armed Forces of Ukraine claim some 17,200 Russian soldiers have been killed since the invasion began just over a month ago.
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