The torture of Russian soldiers in Mala Rohan was an incident during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine that occurred in the village of Mala Rohan in the Kharkiv District of the Kharkiv Oblast. Between March 27 and March 28 2022, a series of videos were posted on social media showing Ukrainian soldiers mocking and torturing Russian prisoners of war. According to the international humanitarian organization Human Rights Watch on March 31, the incident, if confirmed, would qualify as a war crime.[1] On 13 May the French newspaper Le Monde and independent analysts verified the video and confirmed its authenticity.[2]
Video
On the morning of March 27, two videos were posted on Reddit and Twitter, and a more complete version, two minutes longer, later appeared on YouTube.[1] The Times reported that the videos had been promoted by Maria Dubovikova of the Russian International Affairs Council, but their original source is unclear.[3] According to CheckNews, the fact-checking service of Libération, other videos that were posted showing the taking of prisoners was done by soldiers of the Kraken special forces unit associated with the Azov Battalion, which fought nearby.[4]
The video shows five people in military uniforms lying on the floor with their hands tied and bullet holes in their legs. Two more people are driven into the courtyard in a van and promptly shot in their legs, along with another man standing nearby. One of the new arrivals is also appears to be struck in the head with the butt of a rifle. The interrogation of prisoners by a man is heard behind the camera, as well as a conversation in Russian without a foreign accent, presumably on a walkie-talkie.[1]
Based on weather conditions and the position of the sun, the BBC suggested that the video could have been shot early in the day on March 26.[5] France 24 suggests that the video could have been filmed between March 11 and 27, again based on weather conditions.[4] Open data researcher Erich Auerbach reported that the action took place on a farm in the village of Mala Rohan, 18 km (11 mi) east of the center of Kharkiv. This geolocation was confirmed by Human Rights Watch and the Washington Post. According to Ukrainian statements, this village was liberated by the Ukrainian Armed Forces two days before the first videos appeared.[1][6]
The perpetrators in the video wore blue armbands, which Human Rights Watch noted are usually worn by Ukrainian forces, while all except one of the POWs (who donned a red one) had white armbands, both colours in use by Russian forces. According to Human Rights Watch, the affiliation of the perpetrators is unclear: they are dressed in various uniforms, hold various weapons, and have various equipment without obvious insignia.[1] Nick Reynolds, a military expert at the Royal United Institute of Defense Studies, said an assault rifle in the video resembled camouflaged weapons used by the Ukrainian Special Operations Forces, but is slightly different from any he had previously seen; he also noted that both parties in the conflict used weapons captured from the other side.[5]
Another video and reports
On March 28, Yuri Butusov , the editor-in-chief of Ukrainian website Censor.net , posted a video showing a farm in Mala Rohan and the badly burned remains of three people. According to Butosov, the video was shot a few hours after the fighting had stopped, and the dead were wearing Russian uniforms. Human Rights Watch notes that in this video, the farm area had suffered from explosions and a fire, which was not present in the original video.[1]
Also on March 28, Agence France-Presse journalists visited Mala Rohan. They reported that they had seen two corpses of Russian soldiers on the street and two in a well, and also cited the words of the Ukrainian military about the capture of five Russian prisoners, one of whom was shot while trying to escape.[1]
On May 13, investigative reporters at French outlet Le Monde published a video in which they confirmed geolocations and information about possible suspects in the shootings that were first reported by Erich Auerbach. In videos shot during the battle for Mala Rohan, members of the Ukrainian Slobozhanshchyna battalion are present, and one of their leaders, Andrey Yangolenko, clearly appears in the same frame as the prisoners who were later shot in the knees.[2]
Reactions
From Ukrainian authorities
Oleksiy Arestovych, adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine, said that the unlawful treatment of prisoners qualifies as a war crime and should be punished. He also stated that an investigation will be conducted, and the inadmissibility of such actions would be reiterated to defense forces personnel.[1]
Valery Zaluzhny, commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, called the video staged and accused Russia of creating it to discredit the Ukrainian forces.[1][6]
Iryna Venediktova, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, said that investigations and prosecutions would be carried out if the evidence were strong enough.[3]
From Russian authorities
Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the Russian president, said that the videos contain "monstrous footage" and should be investigated by lawyers.[3]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Ukraine: Apparent POW Abuse Would Be War Crime". Human Rights Watch. 2022-04-02. Retrieved 2022-05-09.
- ^ a b "Prisonniers russes torturés : des vidéos vérifiées par « Le Monde » mettent en cause un bataillon de volontaires ukrainiens". Le Monde (in French). 2022-05-13. Retrieved 2022-05-13.
- ^ a b c Tucker, Maxim. "Kyiv investigates video said to show PoWs being shot". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Archived from the original on 2022-03-29. Retrieved 2022-05-09.
- ^ a b "Does this video show Ukrainian soldiers shooting at Russian prisoners of war?". The Observers - France 24. 2022-03-31. Retrieved 2022-05-08.
- ^ a b "Does video show Russian prisoners being shot?". BBC News. 30 March 2022.
- ^ a b "Kyiv will investigate video that appears to show Ukrainian forces shooting Russian prisoners of war". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2022-05-09.