Ukraine vows to take action over any abuses by its soldiers

independent.co.uk:  Ukraine has promised to take action against any mistreatment of prisoners of war after reports emerged of a graphic video showing captured Russian troops being tortured.

Oleksandr Kyrylenko, the deputy head of the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces, said at a televised briefing in Turkey on Tuesday that the government is monitoring all information pouring in regarding abuses against Russian soldiers.

“All information that comes is checked by the armed forces of Ukraine and, if there is violation, appropriate legal decisions will be made regarding those military personnel who violated the laws on the treatment of prisoners of war,” he said.

Mr Kyrylenko’s comments come after a graphic five-minute-long video emerged online that showed Ukrainian soldiers allegedly beating and torturing Russian prisoners of war.

The soldiers are seen in the video bearing serious injuries, but how they sustained these wounds was not made clear, reported The New York Times.

Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky, condemned the video in a statement after news of its circulation emerged, reported The Guardian. 

“We are a European army, and we do not mock our prisoners. If this turns out to be real, this is absolutely unacceptable behaviour,” he was quoted as saying.

“I would like to remind all our military, civilian and defence forces once again that the abuse of prisoners is a war crime that has no amnesty under military law and has no statute of limitations.”

Oleksander Motuzyanyk, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian military, said there had been no information about where the video had been taken.

“Currently, no one can confirm or deny the veracity of this video,” he said. “It’s not known where it’s happening, or who the participants are.”

Ukrainian military commander General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, however, accused Russia of staging the videos.

“The enemy produces and shares videos with the inhuman treatment of alleged ‘Russian prisoners’ by ‘Ukrainian soldiers’ in order to discredit the Ukrainian defence forces,” he said.

In a statement, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the “monstrous images” needed to be examined legally and those responsible should be held accountable.