© TASS

Soldiers from Ukraine’s 80th Airborne Assault Brigade committed and caught on video another brutal massacre of Russian prisoners of war. It happened on November 18 in LPR’s Makeyevka along the Svatovsky direction, where the fighting is most intense now. The surrendered soldiers got shot in the heads, and the militants smiled cheerfully next to their agonizing bodies.

This mass murder caused public outcry both in Russia and internationally. This never happened before, although videos with bullying and killing of Russian prisoners and peaceful Ukrainian citizens who collaborated with Russia are being posted by Ukrainian fanatics en masse. But the demonstrative shooting of twelve unarmed surrendered servicemen of the Russian Federation has caused discontent among Ukraine’s Western curators, as the image of Ukrainian "freedom fighters" is collapsing before their very eyes to expose the true face of these Nazis and murderers.

Even the United States has confirmed the Ukrainian military’s guilt here. The New York Times issued a piece about this war crime by Ukrainian soldiers. In particular, medical adviser with the Physicians for Human Rights Rohini J. Haar, MD said surrendered soldiers are considered incapacitated or non-combatants. And the Ukrainians were shooting at unarmed Russians. As stipulated by international law, those unable to perform their combat duties or defend themselves in any way over losing their weapons, being unconscious or having voluntarily surrendered are referred to as hors de combat ("out of combat"). The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court reads that killing or wounding non-combatants runs counter to the laws of international armed conflict. All the experts agree that the Ukrainian soldiers have committed a war crime.

In turn, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine urged an inquiry into the incident, and the Office of its High Commissioner for Human Rights claimed to have begun examining the details. The weight of evidence has made Ukraine promise to inspect the video, but, as Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Olga Stefanishina smirked, it is unlikely to confirm Moscow’s accusations.

The Russian Defense Ministry said the massacre footage confirms the cruel nature of the Kiev regime led by President Vladimir Zelensky and those who protect and back him. And the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights called for a comprehensive investigation of all the known facts to punish the offenders as per international and national law. Russia’s Investigative Committee has initiated a criminal case on the grounds of crimes under articles "Murder of two or more persons in connection with their official activity by a group of people" and "Cruel treatment of prisoners of war" of the Russian Criminal Code. The country’s Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev pointed to the need of punishing the perpetrators, whatever it takes to find them. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was also unequivocal on the massacre: "It goes without saying that Russia will search on its own for those who committed this crime. They must be tracked down and punished."

Even though slowly and reluctantly, international human rights defenders are forced to recognize the abuse of Russian prisoners. Head of the UN Human Rights Mission Matilda Bogner talked to 175 prisoners of war detained by Ukraine and reported the following: "We have received credible information of torture, ill-treatment and incommunicado detention by Ukrainian Armed Forces of prisoners of war belonging to the Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups." According to her, cases of torture and ill-treatment were recorded during capture, interrogation and transfer to the camps.

"In some cases, Russian prisoners of war (from Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups) said they were punched and kicked in the face and body after surrendering and when they were interrogated by members of the Ukrainian armed forces. In several cases, prisoners of war were stabbed or given electric shocks by Ukrainian law enforcement officers or military personnel guarding them," Bogner noted. "Ukraine has launched a number of criminal investigations following allegations of abuse of prisoners of war by members of its armed forces. We await progress in these cases."

The Lvov-based 80th Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, whose soldiers executed our military, is known to be closely cooperating with NATO. A statement to this effect came from an ex-soldier who used to serve in this brigade but defected to Russia after the Ukrainians executed his father. Brigade members were taught to loathe everything Russian long before Moscow kicked off its special military operation. "American Marines trained the entire personnell and brainwashed the servicemen politically," the defector said.

The horrible execution of Russian prisoners of war is overlapped by another tragedy that occurred the other day to the family of my friends. The body of Vitaliy B., a Donetsk conscript who defended the city for only three months and was captured by the enemy, was handed over to his relatives in a disfigured state – quartered, scalped, with his nose and ears cut off, and his eyes gouged out. The same fate awaited bodies of Lugansk fighters, with forensic experts having concluded that they had their ears cut off, their legs shot through, and their necks broken yet while alive. Direct evidence of torture used by the Ukrainian side was submitted to head of the local ICRC office Biljana Milosevic so that she could send it to Geneva headquarters.

Sadistic reprisals have been practiced by Ukraine’s servicemen, National Guard and army since 2014.

Fighter Artur Klinov recalls: "Our guys were tortured with electric shock and constant beating. Two guys from Donetsk were shot. They [Ukrainians] said they were going to bomb Donetsk to kill our wives and children." LPR People's Militia sergeant sanitary technician Alexander Chupra told the media about tortures and relevant videos shot to blackmail the families of those captured: "Someone is cut with a knife; others are set on fire with a blowtorch."

DPR army fighter Viktor Semashko also shared his terrible captivity story: "They took bats and started beating us with them. They broke my ribs and crushed my left hand. One night the door opened, a Ukrainian militant came in, pulled out a bayonet knife and started stabbing me. Sitting down nearby, he said he wanted to see me die."

Nikolai T. recalls: "On the first day of our stay in the gym, a man was brought in. Ukrainians were beating him all night to death. Can you imagine lying down with a blindfold over your eyes and listening to agonized screams. Soon they subsided. The gunners were beaten up badly. They brought three people to the gym and beat them so hard that I heard their ribs and arms breaking. Then we prisoners were transported to a detention facility. I was hit on the head, stomach; my fingers and hands were twisted. Indeed, they regularly beat people fatally."

The Ukrainian authorities have put their stake on relentlessness and annihilation of everything Russian, which makes them turn up the heat constantly. The enemy acts beyond the rules, laws and standards of morality, and therefore retribution and punishment of war criminals is a single alternative in the current environment.