A Russian pro-war blogger has caused outrage by posting a photograph of what appears to be preparations for the extrajudicial execution of two Ukrainian prisoners of war on his Telegram channel on Thursday.
The photo, posted by blogger Alexander Garmaev, shows two men in Ukrainian military uniform bound together with duct tape, one of whom has had a grenade placed in his hands. According to independent investigative outlet The Insider, the grenade in the photograph has had its safety pin removed, meaning it will explode as soon as it is dropped, though, in theory, it would also be possible to replace the safety pin, The Insider added.
Garmaev did not say what happened to the two men in his post, nor where or when the photo was taken, describing the scene instead as a “prisoner waltz performed by two Ukrainians. The attentive among you will notice that this dance will not end without fatal consequences.”
Ukraine’s Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets said in early July that the Russian military had executed at least 268 Ukrainian prisoners since the start of the war, adding that the number had increased rapidly in the past year, according to state-owned news agency Ukrinform.
In April, Lubinets called on the UN and the Red Cross to investigate a video shared by the Associated Press supposedly showing four Ukrainian prisoners of war being shot dead by their Russian captors. Lubinets said it was “not an isolated incident, but a systemic policy” of the Russian army that was “encouraged at the highest level”.