KYIV - Ukraine has begun an investigation into the alleged shooting by Russian troops of three Ukrainian soldiers captured on the southern front line, prosecutors said on Feb 20, the second such inquiry announced since Feb 18.

According to the prosecutor’s general office, the three Ukrainian prisoners of war were shot dead on Feb 18 near Robotyne, a village wrested back from Russian invasion forces during a Ukrainian counteroffensive in 2023.

It said in a post on the Telegram messaging app that a criminal proceeding was looking into “the fact of violation of the laws and customs of war, combined with premeditated murder”.

Reuters sent a request for comment to Russia’s Defence Ministry.

On Feb 18, Kyiv said it was investigating the alleged fatal shooting by Russians of six unarmed Ukrainian soldiers after Ukrainian forces withdrew from the embattled town of Avdiivka, in Russia’s biggest battlefield success in nine months. REUTERS