Thread by @Mylovanov

War crimes are among the most abhorrent acts in war, executed with severe cruelty. We must investigate and punish these crimes. War crimes are rampant in the 🇷🇺 army as seen in Bucha and elsewhere. But today NYT reports on war crimes committed by an American-led unit in 🇺🇦 1/

This diary note reads:

Today a good friend willingly executed a bound prisoner. As the prisoner was siting in a trench blendage, with his jacket draped over his shoulders, Zeus came up behind him and shot him into the back of the head multiple times.

Going to bed. 2/

NYTimes: ours after a battle in eastern Ukraine in August, a wounded and unarmed Russian soldier crawled through a nearly destroyed trench, seeking help from his captors, a unit of international volunteers led by an American. 3/

NYTimes: Caspar Grosse, a German medic in that unit, said he saw the soldier plead for medical attention in a mix of broken English and Russian. It was dusk. A team member looked for bandages. 4/

NYTimes: That is when, Mr. Grosse said, a fellow soldier hobbled over and fired his weapon into the Russian soldier’s torso. He slumped, still breathing. Another soldier fired — “just shot him in the head,” Mr. Grosse recalled in an interview. 5/

NYTimes: Mr. Grosse said he was so upset by the episode that he confronted his commander. He said he spoke to The New York Times after what he regarded as unwarranted killings continued. 6/

NYTimes: It is highly unusual for a soldier to speak publicly about battlefield conduct, particularly involving men whom he still considers friends. 7/

NYTimes: Mr. Grosse’s witness recollection is the only available evidence of the trench killing. But his accounts of other episodes are bolstered by his contemporaneous notes, video footage and text messages exchanged by members of the unit and reviewed by The Times. 8/

NYTimes: A Greek soldier known as Zeus was at the center of all three episodes — tossing the grenade and, Mr. Grosse says, firing at the wounded Russian in the trench and bragging about another kill. 9/

NYTimes: Ryan O’Leary, the de facto commander of Chosen Company and a former U.S. Army National Guardsman from Iowa, denied that members had committed war crimes. He said that his fighters had killed wounded Russians, but only those who could have fought back. 10/

NYTimes: Mr. O’Leary said that the trench episode that Mr. Grosse recounted never happened, and that he was not on that mission. He also dismissed the significance of the text messages. “That’s predominantly blowing off steam,” he said. 11/

NYTimes: He said the grenade episode was not “black and white,” because the Russian soldier and another nearby might have posed a threat. The video leaves unanswered questions about what Chosen members saw or considered threats before the attempted surrender. 12/

NYTimes: But in the United States military, a video showing the killing of a surrendering soldier, regardless of the circumstances, would prompt an immediate investigation, said Rachel E. VanLandingham, a professor at Southwestern Law School and a former U.S. Air Force lawyer 13/

NYTimes: The Ukrainian military has the authority to investigate accusations of war crimes and has opened investigations into claims of abuses committed by Russian forces. 14/

NYTimes: In response to a list of questions, the military stopped short of promising an investigation. It said “the issue raised will be thoroughly examined and verified.” 15/

NYTimes: The American volunteers are fighting without the backing of the United States government, which does not want to be drawn into direct combat with Russia. But the U.S. Justice Department also can investigate because Mr. O’Leary and other Chosen members are American. 16/

My commentary: I find this article and alleged war crimes there deeply troubling.

There are criminals everywhere, but what matters is how a country deals with crimes, in particular war crimes 17/

We are building a democracy in ukraine, we are defending the primordial human rights to life and existence against Russian aggression that wants to deny these rights 18/

And so it is critically important for all of us, for the future of Ukraine, for the future of Europe an even the IS and those fighting to defend Ukraine are just and don’t commit crimes. And if they do they are enough to justice and punished 19/

So, what can you do? Write about these troubling allegations so more people are aware, ask your representative, be it in the US, Europe or Ukraine, to ensure accountability, ask for a proper investigation, so that we find the truth and either clear people names or demand justice/

The difference between us in Ukraine and Russia is that we investigate crimes while Russia encourage them. We protect human rights while Russia ignores and violates them. And this must stay so! 21X

Source: nytimes.com/2024/07/06/wor…