Russian soldiers execute seven civilians in Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, report says
Russian forces shot civilians in basement (illustrative photo: Getty Images)
Two Russian soldiers shot dead seven civilians who were hiding in the basement of a residential building. The crime took place on December 21 in Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, according to the I Want to Live project of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
According to the project, the crime was reported by concerned individuals from within the ranks of the Russian armed forces. It is noted that on the night of December 21, two soldiers broke into the basement of a residential building at 84 Tsentralna Street in Pokrovsk, where civilians were hiding.
The individuals involved were identified as Rinat Galimzyanov, a rifleman of the 1st assault platoon of the 2nd assault company of the 1st assault battalion of the 30th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade, military unit 45863 (a native of Bashkortostan, the city of Neftekamsk), and Oleksii Agafonov, a rifleman of the 2nd assault company of the same unit (born in 1987, from the city of Kyakhta).
It is reported that a father and son, Oleksandr Robertovych Zavadskyi and Yaroslav Oleksandrovych Zavadskyi, came out to the soldiers, who demanded alcohol from them. When they were told that there was no alcohol in the basement, the Russians opened fire and killed the father and son.
Then, after descending into the basement, the Russian soldiers killed a family that was there: the father, Dmytro Hulko; the mother, Oksana Hulko; their son, Dmytro Dmytrovych Hulko; and Oksana's mother, Nadiia. Another man named Oleksandr was also killed, while one more person, Petro Valeriiovych Merontsev, was wounded and pretended to be dead.
After the Russian killers left, Merontsev managed to crawl out of the basement and escape.
The project reported that after the execution, the Russian soldiers informed a commander with the call sign Voodoo that they had destroyed a sabotage and reconnaissance group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and then set the building on fire.
At the same time, it was noted that on December 23, Agafonov and Galimzyanov were detained by the 159th Military Commandant's Office and transferred to Selidove.
"Judging by the fact that the situation did not become public, the murder will be attempted to be covered up," the statement said.
War crimes of the Russian army
Russian forces systematically commit war crimes on the territory of Ukraine.
In November, Russian troops executed a serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who had been taken prisoner in the Pokrovsk direction. The prosecutor's office launched an investigation into the crime.
Earlier, a Russian sabotage and reconnaissance group managed to infiltrate the center of Pokrovsk and kill several civilians. However, Ukrainian forces detected and eliminated them inside the railway station building.
The Main Intelligence Directorate also released intercepted communications in which Russian forces said they had received orders to kill civilians near Pokrovsk.
