Further evidence to suggest Russia has committed war crimes has emerged appearing to show Russian soldiers ordering Ukrainian citizens to be killed.
In an intercepted audio recording obtained by CNN, a Russian commander says: “Kill them all, for f**k sake,” in response to a soldier’s uncertainty over what action to take when seeing Ukrainians ‘dressed as civilians’.
The shocking exchange starts with the soldier saying: “A car drove by, but I’m not sure if it was a car or a military vehicle. But there were two people coming out of the grove dressed as civilians.”
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When the commander shouts: “Kill them all, for f**k sake,” the troop adds: “Got it. But the village here is civilian…”
His explanation is met with the following order: “What’s wrong with you? If there are civilians, slay them all.”
As reported by the outlet, intentionally targeting civilians is a war crime and is something Vladimir Putin has denied since launching his invasion of Ukraine on 24 February.
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But the hours of audio tapes released by the Security Service of Ukraine show otherwise, with another of the conversations involving a commander and a soldier discussing the action to take in civilian areas.
The commander is heard saying: “Shell everywhere! Shell the settlements directly, got it?” before adding: “Shell them. Shell them a lot to raze these two villages to the ground.”
A disturbing exchange also suggests Russian troops are committing war crimes through the use of inhumane tactics such as rape.
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A soldier in a tank regiment can be heard telling a counterpart: “Basically, three tankers here raped a girl… she was 16 years old.”
As Putin continues his attack on the country, the recordings demonstrate the impact Ukraine’s defence has had on Russia’s operation, including severely disrupted supply chains and a drop in morale amongst young soldiers.
“We feed ourselves alright. We butchered a dog and ate it. It was okay,” said one of Putin’s troops in a conversation.
A separate exchange sees a young fighter telling an unknown woman: “We are so fed up sitting here, and I just hope we are not going to get hit.”
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The woman says, “But you are going to be a veteran after this special military operation in Ukraine,” indicative of the influence Russia’s state media has had on civilians’ perception of the war.
She adds, “Putin has signed a decree,” to which the troop says, “What veteran? They promised us we would all get medals, and money with each medal. But I want to go home. I don’t need those medals.”
Amid calls for those suspected of war crimes to be brought to justice, forensic teams are now in Ukraine gathering evidence should they ever be brought to trial.
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If you would like to donate to the Red Cross Emergency Appeal, which will help provide food, medicines and basic medical supplies, shelter and water to those in Ukraine, click here for more information.
Topics: Russia, Ukraine, Vladimir Putin, World News