Press
A shocking audio recording from the Ukraine war provides evidence of war crimes by the Russian army. A commander apparently orders beheadings.
Donetsk – Already at the beginning of the Ukraine War revealed the cruelty of war. In addition to the killing of civilians and the torture of prisoners of war, the brutality of the Russian military seems to know no bounds. An audio recording that was made available to the Ukrainian online newspaper Ukrainian Pravda reveals the cruelty of some soldiers in war: A Russian commander apparently orders his soldiers not to take prisoners – and to behead the Ukrainian soldiers.
In the Audio recording the commander then orders his soldiers to put the head of a decapitated Ukrainian on a stake and display it to scare off the rest of Kiev’s soldiers. In the recording, the Russian curses: “Take the damn American weapons. Take everything: documents, money, take it damn it. Gold, diamonds, pull his teeth, cut off his head and bring him to me.”
Ukraine investigates Russia: Kyiv soldiers were beheaded in the war
The audio recording from June 17 is said to have been made near the village of Staromajorske in the Volnovakha region of Donetsk Oblast, as Pravda further reported. The authenticity of the recording cannot be independently confirmed.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andrii Kostin is investigating other similar incidents that are also said to have occurred in Donetsk Oblast. In a statement on Tuesday (18 June) at the official website The Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office said it had information that occupying troops of the Russian Federation had executed Ukrainian soldiers by beheading.
“Terrible barbarism” of Russia in the Ukraine war: disregard for the Geneva Convention
The audio recording and the investigation by the Prosecutor General’s Office are apparently related. It is unclear whether the recording was also included in the investigation. Meanwhile, prosecutor Kostin stressed: “This is a terrible barbarism that has no place in the 21st century.” The official statement from the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office goes on to say that the severed head of a Ukrainian soldier was discovered on an abandoned armored vehicle. It is not known whether this is the same person that the Russian commander mentioned in the recording.
Killing the enemy is part of war – but even in war there are rules. The Geneva Convention of 1949 and the Rome Statute The International Court of Justice clearly defines what constitutes a “war crime” – and what is also prohibited in war. Article eight of the statute also mentions torture, the killing of civilians and the deliberate destruction of critical infrastructure such as water and electricity plants. All of these are things that the Kremlin does not shy away from in the Ukraine war.
Further war crimes by the Russian army in the Ukraine war: UN investigates
In addition to the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office, which has been active since the Russian annexation of the Crimean Peninsula 2014 War crimes of the Russian occupiers documented, also investigated the U.N. War crimes in Ukraine. In a report dated March 15, the UN Commission investigating human rights violations in the Ukraine war also made serious accusations against Russia.
A Ukrainian soldier, for example, is said to have been tortured for several weeks. “I had lost all hope and the will to live,” the soldier said in the report. After his release, the Ukrainian had to be hospitalized 36 times. However, it remains questionable whether Russia will ever be held accountable before the International Court of Justice. As long as Wladimir Putin in Russia, justice for committed war crimes remains a long way off. (sure)
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