Russia MoD says 10 Russian soldiers shot and killed in cold blood by Ukrainian forces

Over ten Russian Servicemen were shot in cold blood by the Ukrainian armed forces in Makeevka, a settlement in the Lugansk People’s Republic reclaimed by the Ukrainian forces this week, according to the visuals appearing on Telegram channels and social media. Russia's MoD, at a briefing Friday, said that a dozen of Russian soldiers were captured unarmed and executed by their captors. "10 Russian troops had been executed in cold blood by 'degenerates' from the Ukrainian Armed Forces," Russian MoD stated on Nov 18. 

"[Volodymyr] Zelenskyy and his henchmen will have to answer before the court of history, the peoples of Russia and Ukraine for every tortured and executed prisoner of war," Russia's MoD said in a briefing Friday that it shared on its official account. 

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'Vicious essence of Kyiv regime headed by Zelenskyy': MoD Russia

The Defense Ministry of the Russian Federation slammed Ukraine for what it described as a gory war crime in Makeevka. It demonstrates "the vicious essence of the current Kyiv regime headed by Zelenskyy and those who protect and support him," the military said. "The brutal murder of Russian PoWs is not the first and only such war crime, but common practice among the Ukrainian Armed Forces, actively supported by the Kyiv regime, and not noticed at point-blank range by its Western patrons," the Russian MoD further added, commenting on the visuals that are now circulating online. Meanwhile, Russian MoD said that Ukrainian servicemen captured by Russian forces during the course of the ongoing offensive were treated in accordance with the provisions of the Geneva Convention. 

Chairman of the Russian Human Rights Council, Valery Fadeyev, said that Moscow will send the visuals of the execution of the Russian troops to international organizations and will demand an investigation as it is a war crime, Tass reported. Meanwhile, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights also confirmed that it is examining footage of the incident that purportedly showed Ukrainian armed forces committing war crimes as they took back control of the region from the invading Russians. Earlier, Erik Møse, Chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, had confirmed that based on the evidence gathered by the Commission, there have been war crimes that are being committed in the Ukraine war.