Russians kill two civilians in Sumy region while they were attempting to evacuate
Russian occupying forces in the area of the village of Hrabovske in Sumy region committed a war crime by deliberately attacking two civilians with FPV drones while they were attempting to evacuate.
This was reported on Telegram by the 14th Army Corps.
The victims of the attack were a man and a woman who were trying to leave the occupied territory on their own to reach a safe area. Russian drone operators knowingly struck unarmed civilians. The first strike killed the woman, while the subsequent strike targeted the wounded man, who remained next to the body of his companion.
Objective monitoring assets of the Ukrainian Defence Forces recorded the entire course of the attack, confirming that there were no military targets or armed personnel in the strike zone. The video footage clearly shows the civilians’ status: they were not wearing uniforms, were moving slowly, and were using a sled to transport their belongings. Such actions by Russian servicemen bear all the hallmarks of violations of Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and the Geneva Conventions, qualifying as the intentional killing of civilians.
The Russian Federation is attempting to conceal the facts of reprisals against civilians; however, the video evidence will form the basis for a future international tribunal investigating crimes committed by the occupiers in Sumy region in 2026.
Separately, Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) announced a new in absentia notice of suspicion against Russian Colonel Oleksii Yamakidi, who issued orders to strike Ukraine’s energy infrastructure with Kinzhal hypersonic missiles.
In addition, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine released intercepted radio communications indicating a direct order from a Russian commander to kill Ukrainian prisoners of war. The conversation was recorded during fighting near Pokrovsk and includes a clear instruction not to take prisoners and to eliminate everyone without exception.
