Ukraine will investigate after videos show alleged Russian POWs being shot and abused

Ukraine has vowed to investigate following the release of graphic videos purporting to show the horrific abuse of Russian prisoners of war, including some who were shot in the legs.

“The government is taking this very seriously, and an immediate investigation will be launched,” senior presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said on Sunday, according to the Washington Examiner.

“We’re a European army, and we don’t make fun of our prisoners.” If this is true, it is completely unacceptable behaviour,” President Volodymyr Zelensky’s adviser added.

In one video, it appears that Ukrainian troops are removing three Russian soldiers from a van just seconds before the detainees are shot in the legs.

Another video shows the faces of injured and bloodied Russians after their hoods are removed.

The harrowing footage’s authenticity has not been independently verified, and it is unclear where the videos were shot.

“I would like to remind all of our military, civilian, and defence forces that abuse of prisoners is a war crime with no amnesty under military law and no statute of limitations,” Arestovych said.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s military commander, Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, accused Russia of “staging” the videos and warned the public to rely solely on “official sources.”

“The enemy is filming and distributing staging videos with inhumane attitudes of ‘Ukrainian military’ to ‘Russian prisoners’ in order to discredit the Ukrainian defence forces,” Zaluzhnyi said in a statement.

According to reports, the Russians seen in the videos were part of a reconnaissance team captured in the Kharkiv region.

A Russian official condemned the alleged brutality on Sunday.

“Footage of prisoners being treated with extreme cruelty by Ukrainian nationalists appeared on the internet.” “The video circulating on the internet shows captured soldiers being shot in both legs and not receiving medical attention,” said A.I. Bastrykin, head of the Russian Federation’s investigative committee.