A video of the execution of Russian soldiers who were shot in the head is controversial

aroused series of clipswhich appeared on social media last week sparked controversy over whether Ukrainian forces committed war crimes or acted in self-defense when they tried to capture a group of Russian soldiers who were then killed.

The videos showed horrific scenes of at least 11 Russians lying on the ground being shot at point-blank range after one of their comrades-in-arms suddenly opened fire on Ukrainian soldiers standing nearby.

Ukrainian sites circulated the video

trading started Clips for the first time from Ukrainian news channels and the social media channels it used to praise the military prowess of its armed forces and herald its heroic recovery of territory Russia lost earlier in the war.

While the scenes sparked a violent reaction in Russia, The New York Times called on the government to launch an international investigation.

The killings took place as the Ukrainian army recaptured the village of Makeyevka in the Lugansk region in mid-November as Russian forces suffered heavy casualties.

The newspaper explained that the clips were shot at a village farm after comparing the video clips to satellite imagery.

shots in the head

dr For his part, Rohini Har, medical adviser at Physicians for Human Rights, said that “most of the soldiers appear to have been shot in the head.” He added: “There are pools of blood. This indicates that dead people were left there.

He also noted that “when they surrendered, the Russian soldiers lay seemingly unarmed, with their arms outstretched or behind their heads, unable to fight, or non-combatants, that is, effectively prisoners of war.”

war crimes

He said that the Rome Statute, the international treaty establishing the International Criminal Court, could criminalize it under several of its articles if Ukraine were a party to the treaty, including Article 8b(6), which states that “a combatant who killed or wounded laid down his arms, or ran out of means of defense and surrendered at his own discretion, is a violation of the laws of international armed conflict.

Eva Vukosic, war crimes prosecution expert at Utrecht University, explained: “It was difficult to determine from video evidence alone whether a war crime was committed or not, and that the crucial factor is timing, ie when the Russians were shot .” “Was there a shot or two right now or right after, after the last Russian came out shooting at the Ukrainians?” she asked.

“Or only after the immediate threat has been neutralized in retaliation is it clearly a war crime,” she continued.

Further research

She added that if the Russians were shot at the moment, it is not clear that this is a crime, justifying that the Ukrainians may not have known whether the Russian soldiers were armed or not, even if they were before place were.

It also showed that the actions of the Russian militant in this regard are also crucial and can be considered treason, ie faking surrender as a ploy against the Ukrainians, which can be prosecuted as a war crime under the Geneva Conventions.

It was also reported that the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court was likely to investigate the incident given the attention it had received.

She said the investigation will require visiting the site to establish everyone’s whereabouts, collecting shell casings, pathological and forensic examinations of the bodies found and reviewing the actions of the Ukrainian unit after the shooting.

Notably, the human rights commissioner of Ukraine’s parliament on Sunday dismissed Moscow’s accusations that it was talking about the “execution” of Russian prisoners of war, stating that the incident filmed was the Ukrainian soldiers defending themselves against the Russian soldiers pretending to be themselves to surrender.

On Friday, Russia accused Ukraine of executing more than 10 of its soldiers after capturing them, condemning it as a “war crime” based on two video clips posted to social media.