Russian troops apparently kill surrendering Ukrainian soldiers near Pokrovsk, CNN reports

Russian forces seem to have gunned down a group of surrendering Ukrainian soldiers near Pokrovsk in late August, CNN reported on Sept. 6, publishing an exclusive video.

This comes as another apparent case of Russia summarily executing Ukrainian prisoners of war (POW) or surrendering soldiers, which could amount to war crimes.

Drone footage published by CNN shows three Ukrainian soldiers surrendering after their trench was overrun. As they walk out, kneel down, and place their hands on their heads, they seem to be gunned down as they fall to the ground.

Ukraine's Prosecutor General Andrii Kostin told the U.S. news outlet that his office is investigating 28 similar incidents recorded during the full-scale war, which have resulted in the deaths of 62 Ukrainian soldiers.

"If prisoners of war surrender, if they show they surrender, if they are without weapons in their hands, then summary execution is a war crime," Kostin said.

An undisclosed Ukrainain official told CNN that such cases are becoming an increasingly common pattern.

Petro Yatsenko, a representative of the Ukrainian Coordination Center for the Treatment of POWs, told CNN that Russian soldiers are ordered to summarily execute their Ukrainian counterparts so they would fear the same fate if they surrendered.

The battles near Pokrovsk, a key logistics hub in Donetsk Oblast, have been particularly brutal as Russia inches toward this important town. Kyiv has acknowledged a difficult situation in the sector, with the relentless assault continuing despite Ukraine's attempt to divert Moscow's forces by attacking Russia's Kursk Oblast.

In a similar case reported this week, Russia executed three Ukrainian POWs near Toretsk, a town northeast of Pokrovsk, according to Ukrainian prosecutors.

Prosecutor General Andrii Kostin said in June that Russian commanders had given orders "not to capture Ukrainian servicemen, but instead to kill them with inhuman cruelty." He made the statement after footage was revealed that showed a Ukrainian soldier beheaded by Russian troops.

"This is terrible barbarism that has no place in the 21st century," Kostin said at the time.

Ombudsman appeals to UN, Red Cross over alleged execution of Ukrainian POW by Russia seen on video

The footage purportedly shows a Russian soldier who asks a Ukrainian soldier if he wants to “say the last word, pray before dying,” and then shoots him with a rifle three times.

The Kyiv IndependentKateryna Denisova