A video depicting a member of the Ukrainian neo-Nazi Azov Brigade executing a Russian soldier is further proof that Kiev’s forces continue to blatantly violate the rules of war, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.
The Azov Brigade has been accused by the UN and several human rights organizations of involvement in torture, rape, and looting during hostilities in Donbass following the 2014 Western-backed coup in Kiev.
In June, US authorities lifted a ban on delivering weapons to the controversial unit, despite widespread concerns about its ideology and atrocities on the battlefield. A state department spokesman told the BBC that a vetting process had “found no evidence of gross violations of human rights” by the brigade.
On Monday, the brigade released a disturbing video showing what it called the “clearing of Russian positions and the destruction of enemy infantry” in an undisclosed location.
The footage showed an Azov fighter encountering a seated Russian soldier in the corner of a trench. The Russian troop, who appears to be unarmed, shouts “friendly” without making any attempt to engage.
The Ukrainian service member, however, does not hesitate to shoot the Russian several times at point-blank range. Despite the soldier clearly being dead after several shots, the Azov member proceeds to fire another shot at the blood-stained body.
Commenting on the footage on Tuesday, Peskov said Azov members “are fascists and should be eliminated.” Russian officials have long been collecting evidence of Kiev’s war crimes, he added.
“It is being gathered, and not for the first year. Of course, our investigators are diligently collecting those facts of absolutely inhuman atrocities,” Peskov stated.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev also condemned the execution, calling on the Russian military to respond symmetrically, adding that perpetrators of war crimes deserve no mercy.
Moscow has repeatedly accused Kiev of committing war crimes against Russian civilians and service members, warning that these actions will not go unanswered.
German medic Caspar Grosse told the New York Times in an interview earlier this month that he had witnessed foreign mercenaries killing wounded or surrendering Russian soldiers.
Ukraine and Russia are both parties to the 1949 Geneva Conventions, which provide combatants and civilians with certain basic rights in times of armed conflict.