Ukraine investigating alleged shooting of 16 POWs by Russia

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — Pro-Russian troops carry a recoilless rifle during fighting in the besieged southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine, March 31, 2022. (Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters)

(Reuters) - Ukraine said on Tuesday it had launched an investigation into what it said was an apparent shooting dead by Russian troops of 16 Ukrainian prisoners of war, soldiers who had surrendered on the eastern front line.

"This is the largest reported case of the execution of Ukrainian POWs on the front line and yet another indication that the killing and torture of prisoners of war are not isolated incidents," Ukraine's prosecutor general Andriy Kostin said on X. "This is a deliberate policy of the Russian military and political leadership."

Moscow did not immediately comment on the accusations. The Kremlin denies that Russia commits war crimes in Ukraine.

The Ukraine prosecutor general office said on the Telegram messaging app that it was looking into a video shared on social media showing the alleged killing.

In the video, grainy drone footage shows a group of more than ten people leaving a trench. They are lined up and then fall down after being fired upon by other, indistinct figures.

Reuters was not able to independently verify the location and date the video was filmed.

Kostin said the incident took place on the Pokrovsk front, an area of intensified Russian assaults.

Ukrainian prosecutors have previously accused Russia of killing prisoners of war. They said in September they were investigating the deaths of at least 73 Ukrainian prisoners. Kyiv says it has documented over 130,000 war crimes committed by Moscow since its full-scale invasion began in February 2022.



(Reporting by Yuliia Dysa, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)