Ukraine has vowed to examine after graphic videos emerged purporting to show the horrific abuse of Russian prisoners of warfare, together with some who have been shot within the legs.
“The government is taking this very seriously, and there will be an immediate investigation,” senior presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych stated Sunday, the Washington Examiner reported.
“We are a European army, and we do not mock our prisoners. If this turns out to be real, this is absolutely unacceptable behavior,” President Volodymyr Zelensky’s adviser added.
One clip exhibits what seem to be Ukrainian troops eradicating three Russian troopers from a van seconds earlier than the detainees are shot within the legs.
In one other video, the faces of injured and bloodied Russians are seen after hoods are faraway from their heads.
The authenticity of the harrowing footage has not been independently verified, and precisely the place the videos have been shot was unclear.
“I would like to remind all our military, civilian and defense forces once again that the abuse of prisoners is a war crime that has no amnesty under military law and has no statute of limitations,” Arestovych stated.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian navy commander Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi accused Russia of “staging” the videos and warned the general public to solely belief “official sources.”
“In order to discredit the Ukrainian defense forces, the enemy is filming and distributing staging videos with inhumane attitude of ‘Ukrainian military’ to ‘Russian prisoners,’” Zaluzhnyi stated in an announcement.
“I urge you to take into account the realities of the information and psychological war and trust only official sources,” he added, claiming that “the enemy produces and shares with the inhuman treatment of alleged ‘Russian prisoners’ by ‘Ukrainian soldiers’ in order to discredit Ukrainian Defense Forces.”
But reviews counsel the Russians seen within the clips have been members of a reconnaissance crew captured within the Kharkiv area.
On Sunday, a Russian official condemned the alleged brutality.
“Footage appeared on the internet in which prisoners were treated with extreme cruelty by Ukrainian nationalists. The video circulating online shows captured soldiers, being shot in both legs and not given medical assistance,” stated A.I. Bastrykin, head of the Russian Federation investigative committee.
“According to some reports, illegal actions took place at one of the bases of the Ukrainian nationalists in Kharkiv region,” he added,.
