NYT reported the killing of “captured Russian soldiers” west of Kyiv

The New York Times writes that the killings occurred, probably after Russia announced the withdrawal of forces from the cities of the Kiev region.

A fragment of the video was also published by the Ukrainian edition of UNIAN in Telegram. UNIAN reported that the footage shows the “Georgian Legion”, whose fighters are “helping the Ukrainians in cleansing operations”.

In early March, the Russian state agency “RIA News” with reference to an “authorized source” reported on the activities of the sabotage and reconnaissance group “Georgian National Legion” in Ukraine. According to the agency, it consists of 25 people, most of whom have Georgian citizenship.

“The field commander of the Georgian National Legion is Mamulashvili Ushangi (Mamuka) Zurabovich, born in 1978,” the “authorized source” of the agency specified. Mamulashvili, in an interview on YouTube, confirmed that the video depicts the military of the “Georgian Legion”, the Telegram channel Mash reported. On the chest of Mamulashvili, a Georgian National Legion patch with the colors of the flag of Ukraine is visible.

The Georgian Legion is part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Mamulashvili said in mid-January 2018. He then pointed out that the group included citizens of Georgia. The legion also noted that the name “Georgian Legion” was conditional for the volunteer movement in eastern Ukraine in 2014-2015, its members later transferred to the “volunteer unit called” Georgian Legion “, which was the 3rd company of the 25th battalion “Kievan Rus”.

At the beginning of January 2018, the Armed Forces of Ukraine denied the existence of the “Georgian Legion”, stating that such a brigade had never existed.

The Russian Defense Ministry last reported casualty data on March 25. Then the department reported that 1351 Russian servicemen had died in Ukraine since the beginning of the operation.

In early April, the Investigative Committee of Russia began checking the circumstances of the murder of the Russian military by Ukrainian “nationalists”, such an order was given by the head of the department Alexander Bastrykin. “One of the dead has his hands tied behind his back, which indicates that the serviceman died not during a combat mission, but while already in captivity,” the message said. The Investigative Committee indicated that the video showed a violation of the Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War. Bastrykin instructed to investigate the incident and identify those involved in the crime.

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said during briefingthat she saw the video, but cannot confirm its authenticity. “I do not have any confirmation or assessment of the authenticity of the video or publication,” she emphasized (quoted by “RIA News”).