Amnesty International confirms the execution of civilians by Russian forces outside Kiev

It was March 7 or 8 when Russian forces entered and stopped the tanks in Bohdnivka, according to one of Kiev’s neighbors. She lived with her husband, 10-year-old daughter and mother-in-law. On March 9, at sunset, he heard gunshots coming from the downstairs windows of his house. She says both she and her husband shouted that they were civilians, unarmed. When they got out, according to their testimony, two Russian soldiers took them and their daughter into the boiler room.

“We were forced to enter and the door was slammed. Just a minute later they opened the door and asked my husband if he had a cigarette. He said no, he had not smoked for several weeks. One was shot in the right arm. The other said, “Finish it.” “They were shot in the head,” she told Amnesty International (AI).

But he did not die immediately. From 21:30 to 4:00 he was breathing, albeit unconscious. “I begged him (…)” If you understand, move your finger. ” He did not move, but I put my hand on his knee and he also pressed it. I was bleeding. When he breathed his last, I turned to my daughter and said, “It looks like my father is dead.”

A neighbor saw Russian forces forcibly enter the family home that night, and confirmed to the NGO that he saw the man’s body sunk in the corner of the boiler room. The same day the woman and her daughter fled from Bohdnivka. His mother-in-law, who is 81 years old, no. He had reduced mobility and remained.

This is one of the stories compiled by Amnesty International, which this Thursday released new testimonies following an on-site investigation that led the NGO to conclude that Russian military forces executed civilians in Ukraine ostensibly as a war crime. “His Crisis Response Program research team interviewed more than 20 people from towns and villages near the capital, and they provide more evidence of irregularities, such as Russia’s bush documented by the international press, as well as Kiev and other parts of the country.

Several of those interviewed by the organization witnessed or knew about “horrific acts of horrific acts committed by Russian forces.” They have repeatedly spoken of “premeditated killings, unlawful violence and widespread intimidation” by Russian forces against unarmed civilians in the Kiev region.

“In recent weeks we have gathered evidence that Russian forces have committed extrajudicial executions and other extrajudicial killings that should be investigated as possible war crimes,” said Agnes Kalamar, the AI ​​secretary general. “Testimonies show that unarmed civilians in Ukraine are being killed in their homes and on the streets with unspeakable brutality and shocking brutality.

Kalamard recalls that the premeditated killing of civilians is a violation of human rights and a war crime. “This death must be thoroughly investigated and those responsible must be brought to justice, including in the chain of command.” Amnesty International has previously obtained evidence of indiscriminate attacks in the Kharkiv and Sumy regions, as well as an airstrike that killed people standing in line at Chernigov, as well as evidence of civilian siege in Kharkov, Izum and Mariupol.

Six holes in the back

Another testimony collected is that of 18-year-old Katerina Tkachova. He says he was at home with his parents in the village of Vortsel on March 3 when several tanks with the letter “Z” appeared on their street, which the Russians used to mark their vehicles during the invasion. The parents told him to stay where he was, leave the basement where they were hiding, and go outside. Then Katerina heard the sound of gunfire.

“When the tanks passed, I jumped over the fence to the neighbors’ house. “I wanted to check if they were alive,” he told the NGO. “I looked at the fence and saw that my mother was lying on her back on one side of the road, and my father was lying face down on the other side. I saw big holes in his coat. The next day I approached them. My father had six large holes in his back and my mother had smaller ones in his chest.

According to his testimony, his parents were dressed in civilian clothes and had no weapons. Katerina left Worzel on March 10 thanks to the help of a volunteer who participated in the evacuation of areas near Kiev and who confirmed to the NGO that she saw the bodies of her parents lying on the street near their house. AI points out that in the video they checked, they see that they write the names of Katerina’s parents and the dates of birth and death on a piece of cardboard before leaving them with bodies covered with blankets.

They also take the words of Taras Kuzmak, who in the early days of the occupation moved to bomb shelters, where civilians were fleeing to the northwestern city of Khostomel, distributing food and medicine, where the Russians found themselves. Taking over the aerodrome

He says that on the afternoon of March 3, he was with the mayor of the city, Yuri Prilipko, and two other men when they started firing from a large residential complex that had been occupied by Russian forces. All four tried to jump out of the car, but one, Ivan Zoria, was killed instantly, and Mary, according to their testimony, fell to the ground from a firearm. Taras and other surviving hours hid behind the bulldozer as the shooting continued.

“They saw us and immediately opened fire, there was no warning. I only understood the mayor (Prilipko). Knew he was wounded, but did not know whether to die. I told them to stay, not to resign (…) We were shot again at about 15:00, and half an hour later I found out that he was no longer alive. There is a type of breathing that is done just before death, the last exhalation. “Ivan Zoria shook his head, I think they should have used something big.”

Two other neighbors told Amnesty International that they saw Yuri Prilipko’s body near the church when a spontaneous funeral was held in his memory a few days later. Others testified that a few days before his death, Prilepco was distributing food and medicine in the city, always in a civilian car, according to the NGO.

Rape and threats

The specialized organization has compiled three more reports on the illegal killing of civilians, including the survival of a rape man whose husband was executed without trial by Russian forces. A woman from a village east of Kiev says that on March 9, two Russian soldiers entered her home, killed her husband, and then repeatedly raped her at gunpoint while her young son was hiding in a bedroom in a nearby boiler room. Both were able to escape into Ukrainian-controlled territory.

In Bucha, 24-year-old Milena says she saw the body of a woman who lived on her street, lying in front of the house. The woman’s mother said she was shot in the first days of the invasion when she was looking over the fence at a Russian military vehicle. Artificial intelligence researchers explain that they have independently verified the images that confirm the location of the shallow grave in which he was buried.

Volodymyr Zakhliupan and his wife Hostomel fled in the first days of the invasion, but their 39-year-old son Serh was confident he would stay. At first they talked on the phone every day and he told them about the intense quarrel. On March 4, they could no longer contact their son. A few friends who had stayed in the city tried to find him and went to the building where he was hiding in the basement. “When they asked the neighbors, they told them that on March 13 the Russians took my son away [del sótano]. “When they went to look for him, they found him outside the garages of the same building (…) they said they shot him in the head,” Volodimer said.

Considering what is happening in many districts of Ukraine, respondents say they were left without electricity, water and gas in the first days of the invasion and that access to food was very limited. Cell phone coverage was scarce, and some say Russian soldiers confiscated or destroyed cell phones when they saw neighbors carrying them, or threatening them with phone fat.

The NGO says threats of violence and intimidation were also widespread. The man from the hostel tells that he saw how all the people grouped in the shelter were taken out into the open air. Immediately after the speech, the Russian soldiers immediately shot themselves in the head and forced them, according to their testimony, to fall to the ground. Bucha’s two men also said they were constantly shot by snipers as they walked from a vandalized grocery store to fetch food near their home.

“When these horrific reports of life under Russian occupation resurface, the victims of Ukraine should be aware that the international community is determined to hold them accountable for their suffering,” Kalamard said.