By KYIV. Oct 31 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Unidentified Russian soldiers reportedly murdered a Ukrainian family in occupied Volnovakha, Donetsk region, further highlighting a threatening environment of violence that is pervasive throughout the occupied areas of Ukraine, according to analysts of the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
“Ukrainian Human Rights Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets stated on October 29 that Russian troops killed nine civilians, including two young children, in their home in Volnovakha overnight and suggested that Chechen units may have committed the murders because the family refused to shelter Chechen forces in their house. Several Ukrainian sources and a prominent Russian insider source reported that forensic evidence indicates that well-prepared and well-equipped military personnel likely perpetrated the attack. Attacks on civilians hors de combat (in rear areas far removed from active combat zones) by representatives of an occupying power constitute a clear violation of multiple international legal norms and very likely rise to the level of a war crime or crime against humanity,” the report reads.
