“Cruelty knows no bounds: russians likely killed 7 civilians in Pokrovsk! I learned about this today from social media. Ukrainians were hiding in the basement of a residential building, which was stormed by two soldiers of the russian army. Two civilians came out to the occupiers: a father and son, from whom the russians demanded alcohol. When they were told there was no alcohol, the occupiers opened fire and killed the father and son. After that, the russians went down into the basement and shot the other people there. As a result, an entire family was among the dead — a married couple, their son, and the woman’s mother!”, - reported the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets on Telegram on December 29.
According to him, only one wounded person managed to survive by pretending to be dead.
This likely happened on the night of December 21.
“This case shocks with its cruelty and cynicism. I have already sent official letters to the ICRC and the UN. The whole world must see the faces of russian soldiers who came to kill civilians! I emphasize that the events in Pokrovsk are not isolated. They fit into a systemic practice of violence that russian troops use against civilians in the temporarily occupied and frontline territories of Ukraine. The deliberate killing of civilians is a gross violation of international humanitarian law and a war crime”, - Lubinets noted.
He also urged not to delay evacuation.