The New York Times confirmed the authenticity of a video depicting Ukrainian servicemembers shooting wounded Russian soldiers dead in execution-style killings on Wednesday.
"A video posted online on Monday and verified by The New York Times appears to show a group of Ukrainian soldiers killing captured Russian troops outside a village west of Kyiv," the newspaper said.
The video, posted on Telegram, appears to depict Ukrainian soldiers standing over dead and wounded Russian soldiers before one cried out “He’s still alive... look, he’s still alive, he’s gasping,” before one of the soldiers shoots the wounded soldier an additional three times, presumably killing him.
The soldiers in the video are wearing the Ukrainian colors of blue and yellow on their arms, while the men on the floor wear white armbands – the color of Russian military insignia.
NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said that while he had not seen the video, “every report on potential violations of international law should be followed or looked into, and of course, any violation of international law and any war crime is always unacceptable.”
Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba added that the video would “definitely be investigated.”
Russia, which itself has been accused of numerous war crimes since the beginning of its invasion of Ukraine in late February, had previously claimed that Ukraine’s military is abusing POWs (Prisoners of War). Russian Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev said Wednesday that "Russia has every reason to believe that the service members of the Russian Armed Forces who are held as prisoners of war are not okay," and that "Ukrainian authorities are persuading Western countries to urge the International Committee of the Red Cross to abandon its attempts to gain access to Russian prisoners of war," according to Russian state media company TASS.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is currently investigating war crimes in the Russia-Ukraine war, which Russia began on February 24th in what they continue to call a “special military operation.” The United Nations estimates over 10 million refugees have fled Ukraine, while the UN Human Rights Council estimates over 1,600 civilians have been killed, with over 2,200 wounded.