The Prosecutorʼs Office of the Donetsk region has begun investigating the shooting of two Ukrainian soldiers near the village of Vesele (Bakhmut district) and the possible execution of six Ukrainian soldiers in Avdiivka at the "Zenith" position.
An investigation has been launched in criminal proceedings on the facts of violation of the laws and customs of war, combined with intentional murder (Part 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code), the prosecutorʼs office reported.
The first episode is the shooting of two soldiers in the morning of February 18, which was filmed by a helicopter. The recording shows how, during the assault on Ukrainian positions, a Russian soldier shoots at close range, first at one captured soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and then at the second. The occupier deliberately kills them with a machine gun.
The second episode is the possible shooting of six soldiers who, due to injuries, could not leave the surrounded "Zenith" position. On February 17, Russian propagandists and members of the public released a video with the bodies of Ukrainians thrown into the water. It is not yet known for sure what happened to them.
The "Slidstvo.Info" publication writes that the three killed were identified by relatives — they are soldiers of the 110th brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Ivan Zhytnyk with the call sign "Django", Andriy Dubnytskyi "Bayraktar" and Georgy Pavlov "Panda". The brigade told journalists that the information still needs to be verified.
The above-mentioned events can be qualified as a violation of International Humanitarian Law and a war crime.