Russian propaganda video purports to show Ukrainian soldier killing a fellow soldier, but shows two Russian soldiers

Russian propaganda sources have shared a video that purports to show a Ukrainian soldier shooting his brother-in-arms in the back. However, journalists who obtained the original video found that it shows two Russian soldiers.

Source: investigation by Sistema (System), Radio Liberty’s investigative project, and Nastoyashee Vremya (Current Time), a Russian-language TV channel with editorial office in Prague, created by the US organisations Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and Voice of America

Details: A story alleging that a Ukrainian soldier killed a wounded brother-in-arms ran in the 4 July edition of the Russian Vesti propaganda TV programme, alongside a video purporting to show the incident. The Vesti host claimed that "shooting comrades in the back is commonplace in the Armed Forces of Ukraine".

However, an investigation by the Russian TV channel Nastoyashee Vremya and Radio Liberty’s Sistema project shows that the soldiers in the video were from the Russian armed forces. The journalists obtained the original video and found that a strip of Chinese BOKAI underpants, which are popular in Russia, peeked out from under the camouflage pants of the soldier who was killed in the video. Over the past two years, this brand of Chinese underwear has been almost impossible to buy in Ukraine.

Moreover, the trousers worn by the soldiers in the video are similar to the A-Tacs FG line of camouflage clothing worn by the Russian military.

The assault rifle used by the soldier to kill his fellow soldier is the AK-12, which Kalashnikov launched in 2018. Videos from Russian military sources suggest that Russian army soldiers had previously used AK-12s in Robotyne, where the video was filmed.

The journalists spoke to two soldiers from the 118th Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who witnessed the incident. One of them, who goes by the alias Shustryi (Quick) and who used a drone to capture the footage, said: "It was obvious that he [the Russian soldier] would not get up, that his legs were broken and that the evacuation would not reach him 100%. His fellow soldier was running by, and he [the injured soldier] indicated with his hand, asking him to kill him. Without hesitation, he shot him right away."

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