Representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Andriy Yusov said that he could not confirm the words of the head of the Avdiivka MVA Vitaliy Barabash, who earlier said during a telethon that the Defense Forces had eliminated all Russian occupiers involved in the alleged shooting of unarmed Ukrainian soldiers near Stepove in Donetsk region. He said this on the air of Radio Liberty, reports UNN.
Now it is difficult to say which ones (involved in the shooting of the Russian military - ed.). But the situation near Avdiivka and this particular settlement is very dynamic. And yes, there is information, there are many cases when fortifications change hands. However, we cannot say that these are the ones that have been eliminated. This point needs to be further verified
According to Yusov, there are no details about which Russian army units could have done this. A representative of the GUR calls such information "sensitive" and says that all details will be reported in the course of the investigation.
Addendum
On December 2, 2023, a video of the shooting of unarmed Ukrainian defenders by Russian soldiers was disseminated in the media. According to preliminary data, it happened near one of the observation posts in the area of Stepove village, Pokrovsk district.
The Strategic Communications Directorate of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (Stratcom) confirmed the shooting of two Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered by the occupiers.
Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets reacted to the video of the executionby noting that the execution of surrendering soldiers is a war crime. The Ombudsman of Ukraine has already appealed to the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations on this issue.
Ukraine has launched a pre-trial investigation into the video of the shooting of unarmed Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers in the Pokrovsk district by Russian occupation forces.