The war in Ukraine is now entering what looks like a brutal stage.
Both sides are digging in, as Kyiv is armed with NATO weapons, and Putin sends in any forces he can to negate such advantages.
But now, it seems Moscow is getting desperate and doing things no one thought possible – possibly committing war crimes.
Shocking Footage Shows What Could Be a Warcrime in Ukraine
Video footage shared on social media shows how Russian forces targeted a team of rescue workers in Kherson Oblast this week.
According to a report from the chief of staff to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, rescue workers were working to clear silt left over from recent flooding in the Kherson Oblast region when Russian forces attacked them, injuring seven people and killing one worker.
Andriy Yermak took to Telegram to describe how six of those impacted by the Russian attack were severely injured.
“The Russian army fired at rescue workers in Kherson who were clearing mud,” the Ukrainian official said. “As a result of the shelling, one employee of the state emergency service was killed, and seven more employees were injured. Six are in serious condition.”
19FortyFive could not independently verify the claim, but the footage, which first appeared on Telegram, appears to show the workers hit by Russian shelling.
The clips show workers driving through a war-torn town in a military vehicle and eventually coming across what appears to be a rescue worker lying on the ground. The man has visible wounds on one side of his torso, and rescue workers begin to remove his clothes and put him on a stretcher before taking him away in an ambulance.
Additional photographs appear to show injured workers, and one blurred photograph appears to show a victim who died as a result of the strike. The nature of the injuries is unclear, though the fact that the photograph is so deliberately obscured indicates that the damage was extensive.
The Telegram post was made by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. The post describes how eight were injured — one more than the seven declared by Yermak — and confirmed that the workers were attempting to clear roads of debris left behind after flooding caused by the collapse of the Kakhovka Dam.
“Another cynical shelling of our boys in Kherson! The rescuer died,” the post reads in Ukrainian. “Sincere condolences to the relatives! Another 8 received injuries of varying degrees of severity. All of them eliminated the consequences of the flooding of the Ostriv microdistrict. The rescuers helped to clear the road from the debris that remained after the water receded, to ensure passage.”
The post continued: “The world should know in what extremely difficult conditions the personnel of the State Emergency Service work every day! Guys, you are extremely brave and dedicated people! Each of you is a hero today! A hero about whom the world must be told.”
As the footage is graphic, we have not embedded it, as it might prove shocking. However, you view it here.
Jack Buckby is 19FortyFive’s Breaking News Editor. He is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.
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