The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has reacted to a video of the execution of four Ukrainian prisoners of war by Russian occupiers, published by the Associated Press. The department called the Russian army a "gathering of degenerates" for violating the norms of the Geneva Convention.
This is stated in a statement by Foreign Ministry spokesman Georgy Tykhy.
He noted that such executions have become systematic, each of them shocking in its cruelty on the part of the Russian army.
"These executions not only show that we are dealing with beasts. They also demonstrate that the Russian army is a gathering of degenerates. They lack elementary discipline, because disciplined armies do not execute prisoners of war - this contradicts military logic," the Foreign Ministry representative said.
The Foreign Ministry spokesman stressed that this is another war crime that requires investigation, including by the International Criminal Court. All those responsible must be held criminally accountable.
"We are also grateful to the AP for its excellent journalistic work, which demonstrates how the Russians are fabricating videos to hide their atrocities. We must not let them avoid responsibility," Tykhy added.
Ukrainian drone video obtained by the Associated Press from European military personnel shows soldiers in Russian uniforms shooting each of four Ukrainians in the back with such ferocity that one man was left beheaded.
"Of all the executions we've seen since late 2023, this is one of the most egregious cases... This is not a typical combat killing. This is an unlawful act," the AP quoted a representative of the Center for Information Resilience, a London-based group specializing in visual investigations, as saying.
Drones filmed the event from a height above the southern Ukrainian village of Pyatikhatky.
As previously reported by "Apostrophe", Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets once again appealed to the UN and the Red Cross after a video appeared online showing a new shooting of Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers who had surrendered. The video showed soldiers being repeatedly ordered to shoot the prisoners.