Drone Footage Reveals Execution of Ukrainian POWs, Prompting War Crime Investigation

Ukrainian authorities are investigating the March 13 incident as a war crime, with experts citing a broader pattern of extrajudicial killings by Russian forces.

• A Ukrainian drone video from March 13, 2025, shows Russian soldiers executing four surrendered Ukrainian POWs in the village of Piatykhatky, according to an Associated Press analysis.
• A second video, recorded by a Russian drone and shared on pro-Kremlin social media, ends with the Ukrainian soldiers alive, presenting a conflicting narrative of the event.
• Ukrainian officials have launched a formal investigation into the killings, labeling them a suspected war crime under international law.
• Experts and organizations, including the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission, assert that these executions are part of a systemic pattern supported by high-ranking Russian officials.
• The incident adds to mounting evidence of potential war crimes in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with over 157,000 incidents reported by Ukraine since 2022.

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