Ukraine’s top human rights spokesman on Sunday rejected Moscow’s accusations of “shooting” Russian prisoners of war, saying that during the videotaped incident, Ukrainian soldiers were defending themselves against Russians who said they would surrender, Agerpres reported.

A platoon of Russians surrenders to the UkrainiansPhoto: shot from Twitter

Mediator Dmytro Lubinet said that the “videos” presented by Moscow as proof that Kyiv executed Russian prisoners of war actually show that the Russian military, “resorting to surrender,” “committed a war crime by opening fire on the Ukrainian armed forces.”

The Russian soldiers who died in this incident “cannot therefore be considered prisoners of war,” he added in Telegram.

“Those who want to use the protection of international law to commit murder must be punished,” he added.

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On Friday, Russia accused Ukraine of executing more than ten of its soldiers who laid down their arms, condemning it as a “war crime” based on videos posted on social media.

In the first video, which appears to have been taken by a Ukrainian soldier in the war zone, a dozen alleged Russian servicemen emerge one by one from a shelter with their hands up and lie face down behind a team of Ukrainians holding them. sight, reminds AFP. The video cuts abruptly as the last dark figure emerges from cover and shots are fired. Another drone video shows a dozen bodies lying in pools of blood, one of which appears to have been hit in the head.

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AFP says it cannot independently confirm the authenticity of these videos.

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday that they were witnessing the “deliberate and methodical killing” of captured Russian soldiers.

The Investigative Committee of Russia announced the opening of the investigation.

The Russian Foreign Ministry demanded that “international organizations condemn this flagrant crime” and launch an investigation.

A UN spokesman in Kyiv told AFP on Friday that the organization “is aware of these videos and is studying them”.

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