Russian occupiers actively used and continue to use civilians as a "human shield" during battles in Pokrovsk, Donetsk region. This is reported by UNN with reference to the Office of the Prosecutor General and the Security Service of Ukraine.
Details
According to the investigation, on November 10 of this year, the commander of one of the units of the Russian Armed Forces, being in contact with subordinates who entered Pokrovsk, ordered to use civilians as a "human shield".
During the so-called "cleansing" of the residential sector, they were supposed to lead a detained man, a woman, and a 13-year-old child in front of them, exposing them to mortal danger
At the same time, the SBU published an audio recording of an intercepted conversation between Russian occupiers, which refers to the use of civilians in Pokrovsk as a "human shield" during the assault on Ukrainian positions in the city.
The Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine noted: this is a gross violation of international humanitarian law and a war crime.
This prohibition is enshrined in the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, as well as in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Such practice is prohibited both during international and non-international armed conflicts.
The SBU also called the actions of the occupiers a war crime. Such actions of the Russian occupation groups violate the requirements of Article 28 of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War and are qualified as a war crime.
Based on the obtained facts, investigators of the Security Service initiated criminal proceedings under Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (war crimes).