Family of nine killed in eastern Ukraine in one of largest war crimes committed by Russia
- 1 November, 04:48
Ukraine has revealed another war crime committed by Russian troops in the embattled eastern Donetsk region.
Russian troops killed an entire family of nine in Russian-occupied Volnovakha city in eastern Donetsk region, the Ukrainian Parliament’s Ombudsman for Human Rights Dmytro revealed on October 29. The family members were killed in a house during a birthday party, Dmytro wrote in a Telegram post. Gunshot wounds have been found in the bodies of the victims, among them two children.
"There is no doubt that the blood-stained hands of Russians are involved," the commissioner said, while also drawing parallels with other cases of war crimes committed in Bucha, Irpin, Izyum, and other Ukrainian cities where Russian troops were present.
The murder of the family in Volnovakha was earlier reported by the advisor to mayor of Mariupol Petro Andriushenko who described the incident as “the largest war crime since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year.”
According to eyewitness reports, the family members were all killed by gunshots to the head while in their beds on October 27 night when they were marking a birthday.
The Russian Investigative Committee confirmed nine bodies had been discovered in Volnovakha. According to a Russian media report, the murder was committed by a Russian soldier embroiled in a conflict with one of the murdered victims, a man, according to neighbors and relatives.
