Kyiv appeals to UN, Red Cross after reports of Russian soldiers murdering civilians in Selydove
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Ukraine's Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said on Oct. 27 that he had written to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the United Nations after reports circulated on social media alleging that Russian soldiers had killed two civilian women in Selydove.
Ukrainian prosecutors launched a war crime investigation on Oct. 27 in response to social media footage and other reports that Russian soldiers in the Donetsk Oblast town of Selydove have opened fire against civilians on separate occasions, killing at least two women and injuring one person.
"The alleged shooting of two women by the occupiers in Selydove is a war crime," Lubinets said.
"I immediately sent letters to international organizations: UN and ICRC. I am waiting for a response."
The embattled Selydove has seen heavy fighting as Russian forces push deeper into the settlement, which lies 18 kilometers (11 miles) southeast of Ukraine's key logistics hub of Pokrovsk.
One posted video purports to show Russian soldiers opening fire on a civilian car in a populated area on Oct. 24. A local resident was reportedly injured in the shooting, the prosecutor's office said.
Other reports allege that in another incident, two women were murdered by Russian troops. The bodies were found in a residential sector that was not heavily affected by hostilities and likely already under Russian control, according to prosecutors.
Kyiv has accused Russia of committing over 137,000 war crimes in Ukraine as part of its aggression. Earlier this week, the Prosecutor General's Office said that Russian soldiers killed four captured Ukrainian servicemen near Selydove.
