Footage has been found of Ukrainian militia members shooting and killing wounded Russian soldiers. New York Post. The footage has been confirmed to be real and accurate by news outlets, including the New York Times. The militia members are members of the Georgia Legion, a foreign militia fighting with the Ukrainians. In the video a man shoots a wounded Russian soldier three times, killing him. Another Russian is shown on the ground with his hands tied behind his back with an obvious head wound. The video comes after another video was found that showed captured prisoners being shot in the leg, though that one has not yet been verified. Ukraine said it would investigate the incidents.
The video of the shooting can be found here, but it obviously contains graphic content.
My Comment:
Accusations of war crimes are flying pretty rapidly in Ukraine now and it's important to note that it's both sides being accused. Much has been made of the incident in Bucha, which is being blamed on the Russians. I haven't done a deep dive in that case as it seemed like the evidence was weak, but I have no doubt that there are other incidents that have been confirmed where the Russians were guilty of war crimes (most notably the incident where a armored vehicle fired on civilians). But it is important to note that it's not just the Russians that have been accused of war crimes.
To be clear, I don't want to be accused of downplaying Russian war crimes. I am sure they have committed war crimes as well, along with the fact that the war itself was largely unjustified. The fact of the matter is that war crimes happen in every war and it's not surprising. What matters is how it is handled.
I am also skeptical of claims of war crimes on both sides. Indeed, I did not cover the story of the POW's being shot in the legs because the footage could not be verified. It was unclear which side was shooting who, though most agreed it was probably the Russians getting shot in the leg (which was likely murder in a painful and slow way).
In this case though it's very clear that a crime was committed here and it's very clear who was responsible for it. You can't shoot people that are wounded, that's a war crime. And that's what happened here. I don't think the injured Russian soldier was long for the world given how much blood he had lost and how raggedly he was breathing, but it's clear that the militiaman who fired on him ended his life. He should have gotten medical treatment.
Also, I don't think that this was a mercy killing. I don't speak Russian or Ukrainian but from the quotes in the article it sure didn't sound like they wanted to end the Russian's suffering. Indeed, it seemed a lot more like cold blooded murder. You can debate the merits of a mercy killing but in this situation it doesn't apply.
There is absolutely no argument though for shooting a man in the head when he is tied up. That's straight up murder under any almost any circumstances in warfare or outside of it. There is no excuse for that kind of conduct.
From what I understand the video from these killings have gone viral in Russia, while largely being ignored in the west. I also assume that the accusation in Bucha is not going viral there. That is the problem with this war. The population of Russia and the population of the West are not getting accurate information about who is doing what.
Indeed, the reason I wrote this post is to help people get out of black and white thinking. This conflict is morally grey with good people and bad people on both sides. Outside of a very limited few examples, most notably the fight against ISIS, that is true in every conflict. I am not a fan of how Russia is being demonized when Ukraine isn't so morally good themselves and this incident is a pretty good example of that...
No comments:
Post a Comment