Harrowing footage shows Russian troops executing nine Ukrainian soldiers as they begged for mercy on the front lines.
The drone video was reportedly filmed near the village of Ivanivske, near Bakhmut, in the occupied Donetsk region.
Sources said it would be the third cold-blooded execution of surrendering troops in the past month.
You see the Ukrainian soldiers emerging from a frontline trench before dropping their weapons and raising their hands behind their heads in surrender.
Putin’s soldiers then raise their machine guns against the defenseless soldiers, reportedly killing all nine.
The drone video shows an alleged Russian soldier (left) raising his weapon against alleged Ukrainian soldiers (right)
Ukrainian soldiers can be seen emerging from a frontline trench as the Russians make territorial gains before reportedly being shot as they surrendered
The drone video was reportedly filmed near the village of Ivanivske (pictured) near Bakhmut, on the front lines of the war
“Russians shoot Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered in captivity through Ivanivske village near Bakhmut,” wrote Ukrainian official Anton Gerashchenko on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Another Telegram channel No to Crime said of the alleged massacre: “A video of yet another war crime committed by the Russian occupiers was published online.
‘On the edge of the village of Ivanovske near Bakhmut they shot nine Ukrainian soldiers who had surrendered.’
The Russian opposition channel February Morning reported: ‘The invaders shot nine unarmed Ukrainian prisoners in the direction of Bakhmut. This is at least the third prisoner shooting in a month. The barbarity of Putin’s non-humans knows no bounds.’
Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian parliament’s human rights commissioner, accused Putin’s forces of a bloody war crime over the alleged massacre of soldiers who should have been taken as prisoners of war under international rules.
“Another war crime is said to have occurred on February 24, 2024 in Bakhmut district,” he said.
“The video we obtained shows Ukrainian soldiers surrendering: their hands were in the air, showing that they were unarmed and posed no threat.
‘The Russians were going to capture them, but they shot them mercilessly. The exact number of Ukrainians executed by the Russians is not known, but there were probably at least seven.
‘They were members of the Ukrainian armed forces. Such an execution is a war crime. We now also know which military unit of the Russian army belonged to the soldiers who mercilessly executed the Ukrainians.’
Lubinets said: “This case should be registered as a new violation of international humanitarian law by Russia.
“I will immediately send official letters to the UN and the ICRC to ensure that the organizations record and publicly acknowledge that the Russian army is killing Ukrainian prisoners.
‘For the Russian army, the Geneva Conventions, rules and customs of war mean nothing. They act according to their own unspoken ‘conventions’, ‘rules’ and ‘customs’ – cruelty, meanness and humility. Such killings of prisoners of war are not isolated cases. They must be punished.’
Ukrainian newspaper Deep State said the killed soldiers were from the 92nd Separate Assault Brigade or a “related unit.”
The channel said: ‘The Russians are freaks. They only understand violence and only when they are treated the way they are treated. It is a difficult task to motivate the enemy to stop doing this, because anyone can be captured.”
Footage shows several soldiers in the trenches, with Ukrainian and Russian flags identifying each side as they approach each other
This comes just a week after another shocking drone video reportedly showed two Ukrainian soldiers being shot by a Russian fighter as they appeared to surrender while in the frontline trenches.
Footage showed several soldiers in the trenches, with Ukrainian and Russian flags identifying each side as they approached each other.
Two soldiers, reportedly Ukrainian, reportedly surrendered to the Russian fighter, who mercilessly shot them both as they lay on the ground.
According to local media reports, the Ukrainian soldiers died of their wounds.
“The Russians have once again demonstrated their attitude towards international humanitarian law by shooting two Ukrainian prisoners of war,” the Ukrainian army said.
The video, posted by Ukrainian ground forces on the social media platform Telegram, was reportedly taken on Sunday morning on the front line near the city of Wesele, Donetsk region.
The clip, captured by a drone flying overhead, shows the two soldiers – marked as Ukrainian by the country’s flag placed over the footage – running through a winding trench that cuts through a shell-covered battlefield.
But as they turn a corner, they come face to face with a Russian soldier.
In an apparent attempt to surrender, the Ukrainians sit on the ground. However, the Russian soldier (also marked with a flag) grabs one of the men.
Suddenly, smoke is seen bursting from his gun as he shoots one of the Ukrainians at close range, causing him to fall backwards.
The Russian then steps back and – after a pause of a few seconds – opens fire on both men, firing several bullets into their bodies, which tremble when hit.
The footage ends with the Ukrainians lying quietly on the floor of the trench, and with the Russian soldier turning and walking away from their bodies.
Kiev has launched a war crimes investigation following reports that Russian forces shot captured Ukrainian soldiers. The video of the shooting could not be independently verified.