The New York Times on Friday released a video in which documents were released showing Russian soldiers rescuing a number of Ukrainian prisoners despite an initiative to surrender and raise their hands in the suburb of Bucha.
The video, recorded by a CCTV camera, shows Russian soldiers leading a column of unarmed Ukrainians, who appeared to be surrendering and walking in a row, moments before being shot dead.
According to the source, the incident, which is considered a “war crime”, took place on March 4, a few days after the start of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine.
International law prohibits the execution of enemy military personnel on surrender because they are taken prisoner of war.
New evidence – including three videos obtained by the New York Times – shows how Russian paratroopers rounded up and executed at least eight Ukrainian men in Bucha on March 4, a possible war crime. https://t.co/mgWmJYgPJF pic.twitter.com/ZGrldnhht6
– New York Times (@nytimes) May 20, 2022
One month after the incident, Russian forces withdrew from Bucha amid the global shock of finding the bodies of civilians killed in the city, while Russia denied responsibility for the killings.
The New York Times reported that the victims who appeared in the video were later found in the same area, some of whom were handcuffed from behind.
A newspaper confirmed that it had spoken to witnesses living in a nearby house, and that they had confirmed that Russian soldiers had killed the Ukrainians they were holding.
He suggested that the Russian soldiers featured in the two videos were members of the 104th and 234th Airborne Regiments.
The revelations come as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelinsky and his Western allies speak of the need for Russia to be held accountable for what it calls “war crimes” in Ukraine.
Russia has repeatedly denied reports of involvement in “horrific” human rights abuses in Ukraine, calling the allegations “malicious Western propaganda.”
At the beginning of the war, the Ukrainians in Bucha were able to repel Russian forces who had suffered heavy casualties, but they returned and took control of the city on March 3.
When they took control of Bucha, the Russians captured a number of Ukrainian soldiers who had recently joined the army, including six who appeared in a video published by the New York Times.
The slain soldiers were patrolling a security checkpoint in the city, carrying only a rifle and a grenade, but were abandoned by a Russian attack, the newspaper reported.
Source: Lebanon Debate
