Are Russian commanders killing their own wounded? Captured soldiers claim

Russian troops who have been taken prisoner by Ukrainian forces have spoken out about their own being killed by Moscow’s military commanders.

The revelation was made in a video that was initially circulated by UK’s Mail Online and later shared by several US media news websites.

In the video, several unnamed Russian troops have spoken out about the things they witnessed as they joined the war against Ukraine, including their own wounded soldiers being killed by their commanders.

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The Mail Online claimed that the video was shot by Ukrainian journalist Volodymyr Zolkin, who works with Open Media Ukraine.

At one point in the video, some soldiers – who have been referred to as captured intelligence officers – described how a Russian commander asked a wounded soldier lying on the ground if he was able to walk. When he said that he couldn’t, the soldier was shot dead.

“It was a young man, he was wounded, he was on the ground,” a soldier explains, according to the video. “He was asked if he could walk, so he was shot dead.”

The soldiers said that this wasn’t the only incident that took place. They referenced a Russian lieutenant-colonel who allegedly killed several young soldiers in a similar way instead of getting them medical treatment.

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“The most important thing, this was not a single case,” the soldiers added. “The lieutenant-colonel was walking around. He shot four or five like this. They were all young men. They could have been rescued, given help, taken out of there. He simply shot them dead.”

It is unclear from the short clip where or when these executions took place. 

Dmitry Peskov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, reportedly told Ostorozhno Media that the Kremlin has “no information” about the dead.

“The captives are in trouble too … What will we do with our dead and will we exchange captives?” Peskov was asked.