The clip was published by the Ukrainian analysis group Deepstate over the weekend. They state to SVT News that it was filmed by a Ukrainian drone south of the town of Stepove. SVT Nyheter has been able to verify that the location is correct.
What appears to be a Ukrainian soldier steps out of a trench with his hands over his head. Outside, what looks like several Russian soldiers are waiting. He lies down on the ground.
Shortly thereafter, another soldier stumbles out of the fortification. He appears to be falling towards the Russian soldiers, who then open fire on the seemingly unarmed Ukrainians.
May have been filmed in the recent past
The area has long been controlled by Ukraine, but geolocated video clips show that the Russians have been moving forward there in recent weeks. It is therefore likely that the film shows a Russian advance towards a Ukrainian position.
The film is grainy and it's hard to say for sure which side the people involved belong to. But the soldiers who fire their weapons have darker uniforms than those who are shot. Russian uniforms are generally darker than Ukrainian ones.
Deepstate states that the video was filmed on December 1, something SVT Nyheter has not been able to verify. However, in the video, two craters can be seen. With the help of satellite images, we can establish that they appeared after 30 October. This means that the video must have been filmed after that.
The picture on the left was taken on October 30, 2023. On the one on the right, taken on November 28, 2023, two craters are visible. Photo: Planet Labs/TT
Ukraine: Has killed the Russians
The incident is now being investigated as a war crime by Ukrainian authorities.
"The murder of prisoners of war is a gross violation of the Geneva Convention," Ukraine's Prosecutor General wrote on Telegram.
Oleksandr Shtupun, spokesman for the Ukrainian military, claimed on Monday that they had killed the responsible Russian soldiers, writes Ukrainian Pravda.
"I can confirm that the group of Russian occupiers who committed this crime ceased to exist during further hostilities," he said.
Russia has not yet commented on the matter. Ukrainian authorities have not released the names of the dead, who according to sources to Suspilne are currently considered "missing" as the bodies have not been recovered.