Katerina Chernovol20:34, 02/19/24

The enemy agreed to evacuate seriously wounded Ukrainian soldiers and then conduct an exchange.

During the withdrawal of the Ukrainian military from the Zenit stronghold in Avdiivka, not everyone managed to leave. The enemy agreed to evacuate several seriously wounded defenders in order to exchange them later, but instead they shot at them.

As they said in the 110th separate mechanized brigade, the exit of personnel from Avdeevka took place under conditions of continuous bombing by enemy aircraft and artillery shelling, constant attacks by fpv drones, attacks on evacuation vehicles, and shelling of evacuation routes. Several seriously wounded and dead military personnel could not be evacuated.

“The enemy developed a rapid, large-scale offensive, leaving no chance for repeated attempts. Due to the complete encirclement of the Zenit stronghold, it was decided to contact the Coordination Center and organizations that are negotiating with the enemy side on the exchange of prisoners to assist our seriously wounded unarmed military, in accordance with the international rules of war and laws that protect prisoners of war,” the brigade said.

The enemy informed the coordinators of this process that he agreed to evacuate our wounded, provide them with the necessary assistance, and then exchange them.

“We learned what happened next from enemy resources. In the video released by the enemy from the captured Zenit position, relatives identified Georgy Pavlov, Andrei Dubnitsky, Ivan Zhitnik as dead. According to our information, the enemy also shot Alexander Zinchuk and Nikolai Savosik. About the sixth information about the fighter has not yet been confirmed, most likely he was from an attached unit. The RF Armed Forces are terrorists and war criminals who shot unarmed wounded. The relevant authorities will conduct an investigation and establish the truth regarding the violation of the laws and customs of war, associated with premeditated murder (Part 2 of Art. 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. We will give a worthy answer for crimes against our military,” added the 110th Brigade.

Execution of prisoners of war in Avdeevka

On February 18, the DeepState monitoring project reported that Russian occupiers shot 6 captured Ukrainians in Avdiivka. These were wounded soldiers who could not leave their positions on their own. 

Subsequently, the Donetsk regional prosecutor’s office stated that Ukrainian law enforcement officers began an investigation into two separate cases of Russians shooting Ukrainian prisoners of war in Avdiivka and near the village of Veseloe, Donetsk region. 

On February 19, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Dmitry Lubinets, noted that the Russian invaders committed war crimes by shooting Ukrainian prisoners of war in the Donetsk region. According to him, the execution of prisoners of war is a grave violation of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

(C)UNIAN 2024