Russian soldiers march civilians into a gas pipeline to use them as human shields — video

Ukraine's National Guard Khartia Brigade released drone footage it says shows Russian troops forcing nine civilians, including children, the elderly and a person on crutches, through the Shebelynka-Ostrogozhsk gas pipeline near Kupiansk during a Ukrainian counteroffensive. Military-aged men in civilian clothes, believed by Khartia to be Russian soldiers who shed their uniforms, reportedly walked among the group, and Ukrainian forces say they withheld fire to avoid harming the civilians.

The unit says such actions would constitute forced transfer of civilians, unlawful use of human shields, and perfidy under the Geneva Conventions and Rome Statute, and that gathered evidence will go to international war crimes investigators. Khartia also warned Russian media may later present the footage as a staged 'evacuation.'

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