Graphic Video Shows Violent Treatment of Russian POWs

A video that the New York Times has deemed too graphic to post shows Russian prisoners of war in Ukraine being beaten and shot in the legs. The video, shared online elsewhere Sunday, shows people who appear to be Ukrainian soldiers interrogating five prisoners who are on the ground, bound, some with heads covered by bags and some at gunpoint. Mostly Russian is spoken by everyone in the video, and the captors, who are wearing blue armbands characteristic of Ukraine's military and speaking with Ukrainian accents, can be heard saying they're doing this because "you were [expletive] destroying Kharkiv." The Times confirmed the location of the video as being on the eastern outskirts of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, which is near the front lines of the conflict.

The prisoners are bloodied and already seem to be seriously injured at the start of the video, and they are kicked and hit throughout the nearly six minutes it runs. One appears to pass out at one point. Three other captives are brought over to the group from a van mid-video, and one of the captors immediately shoots their legs point-blank with an assault rifle despite the fact that the hands of two were tied behind their backs and the third did not appear to have done anything threatening before being shot; one of the three is also hit in the face with the butt of a rifle. CTV News says that if authentic, the video shows "a clear violation of the Geneva Convention," and actions that would be considered war crimes.

Ukrainian authorities say they cannot confirm the video's authenticity but will investigate it, the Washington Post reports. After it was released, an adviser to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said those responsible would be punished if it was determined to be credible. "All prisoners are to be treated in accordance with the Geneva Convention, whatever your personal emotional motives," he said. A Ukrainian general, however, suggested it could be Russian propaganda, CNN reports: Ukrainian soldiers "strictly adhere to the norms of international humanitarian law," he said. Ukraine has previously been reprimanded for posting videos of POWs it has in custody. (More Russia-Ukraine war stories.)