(Reuters) – Ukrainian prosecutors said on Friday they had launched an investigation into the alleged Russian shooting of three surrendering Ukrainian servicemen on the eastern front near Pokrovsk, the main focus of the Russian assault.
Describing the latest of dozens of similar incidents reported in Ukraine, the Prosecutor General’s office said on Telegram that it took place after Russian troops attacked a trench used by the Ukrainian military for cover on August 27.
“The soldiers emerged from the damaged shelter and knelt down, with their hands behind their heads. At that moment, the Russians opened fire,” the statement said.
CNN has obtained Ukrainian drone footage showing the alleged execution. The video shows three men kneeling and falling to the ground seconds after the apparent shooting.
Reuters could not independently verify the video. There was no immediate comment from Russia.
Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin told Channel X that kyiv was investigating alleged executions of 73 Ukrainian prisoners by Russian troops.
He said an increasing number of such cases had been documented.
“This war crime is part of Russia’s continuing grave violations of international humanitarian law. Russian barbarism is a disgrace to humanity,” Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhiy Tykhyi said in an interview with X.
The Kremlin denies that Russia is committing war crimes in Ukraine; kyiv claims to have documented nearly 130,000 war crimes committed by Moscow since its full-scale invasion in February 2022.