The accusation is heavy.
The Ukrainian prosecutor's office announced on Sunday that it had opened investigations into the alleged execution by Russian soldiers of eight prisoners of war in eastern Ukraine, notably near Avdiivka, the day after the withdrawal of Kiev forces from this city. .
“The shooting of Ukrainian prisoners of war in Avdiivka and Vesselé: investigations have begun,” the General Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine said on Telegram.
Earlier in the day, the Telegram channel DeepState, close to the Ukrainian army, claimed that the Russian army had executed by shooting six Ukrainian soldiers, including four wounded, surrounded in a position south of Avdiivka, probably on Thursday , before the complete Ukrainian withdrawal from this industrial city.
Point blank shot
“The armed forces are verifying the circumstances of the death of a group of Ukrainian soldiers captured when they were leaving the Zenit position on the southern outskirts of Avdiivka,” Dmytro Lykhoviy, the spokesperson, reacted on television on Sunday evening. Ukrainian military in this area.
The Ukrainian army had announced the day before that soldiers had been captured during the withdrawal from Avdiivka, without giving details.
Ukrainian ground forces for their part accused Russian soldiers on Sunday of having executed by shooting two prisoners of war in another area of eastern Ukraine.
On Sunday morning, “the Russians once again showed their attitude towards international humanitarian law by shooting two Ukrainian prisoners of war,” they said on Telegram.
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They broadcast a short black and white video made from a drone in which we can see a soldier shooting at point blank range at two soldiers who are in the same trench as him and who do not offer any resistance.
According to the Ukrainian prosecutor's office, the incident took place near the village of Vesselé, northeast of Bakhmut, a town captured by Russia in May 2023 after months of fierce fighting.
The two belligerents have already repeatedly accused each other of having killed prisoners of war since the start, in February 2022, of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
In March 2023, a video appeared to show a captured Ukrainian soldier, executed by gunfire after saying “glory to Ukraine!”
”, had gone viral.
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights recalled at the time that it had “documented numerous violations of international humanitarian law against prisoners of war, including cases of summary executions of prisoners of Russian and Ukrainian war.