Soldiers of the 2nd Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine "Khartiya" recorded how Russian troops abducted civilians from Kupyansk through a gas pipe, covering the withdrawal of their own forces.
The military published the corresponding video, shot using reconnaissance drones on September 27, on social media.
The footage shows Russian soldiers taking nine civilians out of the Kupyansk community in the Kharkiv region, where the “Khartiya” is conducting counteroffensive operations. Among them were children and the elderly. One person was on crutches.
Alongside them were men of draft age in civilian clothes. The “Khartiya” says that these are Russian military personnel who have taken off their uniforms and are fleeing under the cover of civilians.
People were taken from Kupyansk through the village of Holubivka to the “Shebelinka-Ostrohozk” gas pipeline and led inside the pipe. The occupiers use this gas pipeline to stealthily bring their attack aircraft into the city. It exits into the forest, and from there, people will presumably be taken to the occupied territory.
"The Russians filmed them on camera all the way. The Ukrainian military saw the group and did not open fire because there were civilians there: children and the elderly. The Russians were counting on this," the “Khartiya” noted.
The military stressed that these actions of the Russian occupiers clearly qualify as crimes under international law. The documented materials will be transferred to investigate Russian war crimes.
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