The Russian Foreign Ministry has accused Ukrainian forces of executing civilians in a Donbass town as part of a “false flag” operation designed to wrongly frame Moscow for war crimes. Witnesses claim that mercenaries, including alleged Polish nationals, carried out the killings before retreating in the face of advancing Russian troops.
Selidovo, located about 15 kilometers south of Pokrovsk in Donetsk, was under Kiev’s control until it was fully secured by Russian forces on October 29. The town had an estimated population of 21,000 in 2022.
Rodion Miroshnik, a senior Ministry official tasked with gathering evidence of Ukrainian war crimes, stated on Monday that the killings were part of a deliberate effort by Kiev to accuse Russia of atrocities. “When the West started talking about peace negotiations, [Vladimir] Zelensky started preparing ‘Bucha 2’, but in Selidovo,” he told RIA Novosti.
Miroshnik further claimed that residents who fled the town testified to dozens of civilians being executed in the streets by Ukrainian soldiers and foreign mercenaries. “They said that the ‘Nazis’ [a term commonly used by Donbass residents to describe Kiev’s forces] staged a bloodbath two or three days before the city was taken by Russian troops,” he added. Witnesses provided names, addresses, and descriptions of the perpetrators, some of whom were said to speak Polish and wear Ukrainian uniforms.
One testimony came from Vladimir Romanenko, who described how Ukrainian soldiers killed five of his family members and burned their bodies. “I went out into the street and heard shouting. A short man was shouting, ‘Everyone out of the house, face the wall!’ And he began to shoot,” Romanenko said. He explained that he managed to escape but later identified the bodies of his wife, sister, son, grandson, and niece, all of whom had been shot.
An unnamed local woman recounted that the killings occurred after civilian representatives of the Ukrainian state left the town: “There was no one there. Everyone left. We were abandoned. They said there are no residents in Selidovo. They didn’t even bring us bread.”
Miroshnik suggested that Ukrainian forces and mercenaries attempted to blame Russia for the massacre but failed to complete the operation in time.
The accusations mirror a narrative that emerged in early April 2022, when Ukrainian media published images and videos of bodies in Bucha, claiming they were victims of Russian troops. Moscow has consistently denied these claims, asserting the scene was staged by Kiev.