Russia’s Pipeline Into Kupiansk Is Now Its Escape Route—with Kidnapped Civilians as Human Shields, Ukraine Says
Khartia said nine civilians, including children and elderly people, were forced into a pipeline as suspected Russian soldiers moved beside them.
- On Sunday, September 27, Russian troops allegedly forced children and elderly civilians into a gas pipeline near Kupiansk, using them as cover while withdrawing during Ukraine's ongoing counteroffensive, according to Ukraine's 2nd Khartia Corps.
- The group was forced into the Shebelinka-Ostrogozhsk gas pipeline, which Russian forces had previously used to covertly move assault troops toward Kupiansk, according to the Ukrainian military.
- Reconnaissance drones released by the Khartia Brigade recorded nine people, including elderly civilians and an individual on crutches, with suspected soldiers in civilian clothing moving alongside them.
- Ukrainian troops monitoring the group did not open fire to protect the civilians, and Khartia stated it would submit the material for a war-crimes investigation.
- International humanitarian law, including Article 51 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, prohibits using civilians to shield military forces from attack, a violation documented in this case.
31 Articles
31 Articles
Video released by the Ukrainian National Guard shows a group of civilians being led, possibly by Russian soldiers, out of Kupyansk, through a gas pipeline leading to Russia.
Russian troops using civilians as 'human shields' to flee via Kupiansk pipeline, Khartiia Corps claims
Children, elderly people, and a person on crutches walked alongside draft-age men who were likely Russian soldiers wearing civilian clothes, according to Khartiia Corps' drone footage.
A Ukrainian military corps has released drone footage from Kharkiv Oblast. It is said to see Russian soldiers fleeing – using civilians as camouflage.
<p>Civilians cannot be used as a tool of war - Sibiga on the abduction of civilians in Kupyansk region Sibiga said that Russian forces forcibly carried civilians through a gas pipeline near Kupyansk. He called it a violation international law.</p>
Russian military personnel may have used civilians as cover as they retreated from the Kupyansk area of Kharkiv Oblast. On September 27, Ukrainian surveillance drones captured a group of people moving across a gas pipeline.
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