A video has emerged of Ukrainian troops allegedly shooting a captured Russian soldier outside a village west of Kyiv.
Footage appears to show an ‘execution’ style killing seven miles from Bucha, where Vladimir Putin’s forces have been accused of atrocities against civilians.
In the video – first shared on the social media app Telegram – bodies of three men can be seen lying on the ground in pools of blood.
A fourth man with a jacket over his head, can be heard breathing heavily and attracts the attention of Ukrainian fighters.
In Russian – a language spoken by troops on both sides of the war – a voice can be heard saying: ‘He’s still alive. Film these marauders. Look, he’s still alive, he’s gasping.’
The struggling paratrooper is then shot twice, and then again when he tries to move.
All four of the bodies appear to be dressed in Russian uniform and the hands of at least one of the men is tied behind their back.
The camera pans round to the alleged Ukrainian soldiers at one point, who are wearing blue and yellow armbands. Men can be heard saying ‘Glory to Ukraine’ at points in the clip.
A team at the BBC have tried to biometrically match the face of the men in the video to prove if they are in fact Ukrainian soldiers.
They found a match to a Georgian man who is believed to have links with Ukraine, but have yet been unable to confirm his identity. If proven, the execution could amount to a war crime.
The BBC team also say the word ‘Gruziny’ – which translates from Russian to mean ‘Georgians’ – can be heard in the video.
They believe the video was taken in the town of Dmytrivka near Bucha, where roads also lead out towards Irpin.
At one point in the footage, a tank can be scene emblazoned with the letter V – a typical sign used by Russians to mark their vehicles and weapons.
An expert from defence intelligence company Janes told Sky News: ‘This vehicle is a BMD-2 airdroppable infantry fighting vehicle.
‘It is used exclusively by Russia’s airborne forces and the ‘V’ on the side of it indicates it was at some point deployed north-east of Kyiv.’
The clip finishes with a man speaking to the camera who says ‘don’t come on our f****** land’ before he smiles and the footage ends.
The video first appeared online on March 30. It was shared widely across social media following its emergence on Telegram.
Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, was asked about the video on Thursday during a NATO press conference.
He said: ‘The Ukrainian army observes the rules of warfare. There might be isolated incidents of violations of these rules and they will definitely be investigated.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
For more stories like this, check our news page.
Source: Read Full Article
