Kathrine Frich
Soldiers go into battle knowing the risks, including the possibility they may not return.
But what they do not expect is to be killed by their own side, especially during moments meant to bring a pause in fighting.
In eastern Ukraine, new claims suggest that even a declared ceasefire offered no such protection.
Incident reported
Ukraine’s 24th Separate Mechanised Brigade said three Russian soldiers were killed by their own side during a ceasefire in the Donetsk region.
According to the brigade cited by Ukrainska Pravda, the incident took place in the city of Chasiv Yar.
The soldiers had reportedly been captured by Ukrainian forces prior to the incident.
Evacuation attempt
The brigade said the wounded men were being evacuated from frontline positions during the ceasefire.
They were described as unarmed, showing signs of medical treatment and moving with the aid of walking sticks.
To facilitate the evacuation, they had been dressed in neutral clothing.
Drone strike
Ukrainian officials claim Russian forces identified the group and targeted them with FPV drones.
All three men were killed in the attack.
The brigade later stated that the victims were in fact Russian servicemen who had been taken prisoner the previous day.
Test of ceasefire
According to the brigade, the evacuation was partly intended to assess whether Russian forces would respect ceasefire conditions.
“For the purposes of safely conducting a medical evacuation of personnel from its own units, the brigade command had decided that the Russian personnel who had been captured the previous day… should change into neutral clothing,” the statement said.
The Ukrainian unit released the names of the погибших soldiers, identifying them as Senior Sergeant Stanislav Zhuravlyov, Private Aleksandr Choshev and Junior Sergeant Andrei Zagrebin.
Click to display external content from twitter,
– You can always enable and disable third-party content.
You agree to display external third-party content. Personal data may be sent to the provider of the content and other third-party services.
Read more about in our Privacy statement
Sources: Ukrainska Pravda
