Crime and Punishment

For months now, Russian soldiers have time and time again denied the intentional killing of Ukrainian civilians. Even as soldiers, they continue their denials, such as 21-year-old Russian Sergeant Vadim Shishimarin pleaded guilty to illegal killing and was sentenced by a Ukrainian court to life in prison. Shishimarin shot an unarmed 62-year-old Ukrainian civilian man in the head while he sat in his car.

Modern technology has made it all but impossible to deny these types of killings. Radio transmissions in which Russian soldiers openly discuss the premeditated killings of civilians in Ukraine have been intercepted by intelligence agencies. Reports of these radio communications were first published in the German news magazine Der Spiegel, which explained how what they heard related to the mass killings carried out in the city of Bucha, north of Kyiv.

Irrefutable Evidence

The BBC has recently released disturbing CCTV footage of Russian soldiers killing civilians in a Ukrainian business and then celebrating the event.

Russian soldiers take the life of civilian security guard Leonid Pliats and his boss by shooting them in their backs. It was all captured by CCTV. Video courtesy of YouTube and BBC News.

This security camera footage documents the killing of 65-year-old Ukrainian civilian Leonid Pliats. Ironically, the same cameras that helped the security guard to do his job ended up recording his death. The particularly graphic parts have been edited out, but it’s still not easy to watch. These Russian soldiers clearly have no issues with taking civilian lives.

At first, we see five Russian soldiers carefully approaching the facility. Due to an abundance of cameras, their every move is picked up and recorded for history. We see Leonid, the security guard, meet the soldier at a gate. Nothing happens at first. The men enjoy a smoke together, and then the soldiers walk away. Before long, two armed Russians walk back to where Leonid and his boss are standing, raise their weapons, and shoot them in the back.

The boss is killed immediately, but Leonid somehow survives and manages to limp back to his guard shack to call for help. From above, we watch him make the call on his cell phone. One of the people he called that day was his friend Vasya. The BBC tracked him down and interviewed him. Before they shot him, the soldiers apparently told Leonid they didn’t kill civilians. This was most likely done in an attempt to make the man relax and thus make shooting him easier.

Vasya did all he could, telling his friend to hang in there and calling the Territorial Defense forces for help. In the meantime, Leonid is hiding in his guard building, bleeding out.

Before long, members of the local Kraken unit were on their way to the scene. They tried to reassure Leonid that he would make it, but he died before they could arrive.

Unfortunately, Leonid and his boss were not the only two civilians killed in that area. Police told the BBC that the Russians would shoot at just about anything that moved. They found the bodies of 37 civilians on a nearby stretch of road.