No fight precedes it, just a seemingly harmless conversation. Then Russian soldiers shoot two unsuspecting civilians in the back. Videos show the act, which is now being investigated as a possible war crime.
Another serious, obvious war crime became known in Russia’s war against Ukraine: Russian soldiers shot two civilians from behind.
The US news channel CNN and the British BBC published footage and photos from surveillance cameras showing the two murders. Also the verification unit of star and RTL checked the recordings.
Video shows murders by Russian soldiers
The scene of the crime is a commercial complex with a gas station and vehicle dealership on a highway about ten kilometers west of the city limits of Kyiv. It is unclear when exactly the picture was taken. CNN and BBC date the sequences to the early stages of the war, when the Russian army attempted to encircle the Ukrainian capital.
A white van, smeared with the “V” symbol of the Russian armed forces, can be seen pulling up in front of the building. At least five soldiers, identified as Russian by their uniforms, approach a fence around the compound.
Two apparently unarmed men come out of the company building to this fence and talk to the Russians, the situation seems calm. After a short time, the men turn and walk back toward the building. The Russian soldiers also turn away and disappear around a corner of the house – but only apparently. A few seconds later the soldiers return to the fence, at least one of them shoots the two men from behind from about ten meters away. You go down immediately.
Ukraine is investigating thousands of possible war crimes
One of the two, the security guard Leonid P., manages to get up and take care of his wounds. He calls a friend and tells him the soldiers have asked for cigarettes, the BBC reports. And that the Russians assured him they wouldn’t kill civilians. Leonid P. calls for help – but it comes too late. As for his murdered boss, who dies immediately after the shots are fired.
Another video recording shows the Russian soldiers at the company’s office just minutes after the killings. They look around for something useful and toast with a drink from the desk. There is whiskey.
After the Russian army retreated from the Kyiv region, the police found a total of 37 civilian bodies along the highway, all of them shot. Prosecutors are investigating the crimes as possible war crimes. The case joins a whole list of war crimes that the Russian army is said to have committed during its campaign. The authorities are now investigating more than 10,000 (see some examples here). The Russian Ministry of Defense declined to comment on the soldiers’ actions when asked by CNN.
Daughter of murdered security guard tells BBC she wants to know what her father died for. And she is filled with sadness and fear. “These damn Russians are so out of control I’m scared of what they might do next.”
Sources: , news agencies AFP and DPA
Source: Stern
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