Drone Video Shows Russian Soldiers Shoot Unarmed Civilian With Hands Up

KEY POINTS

Drone footage from the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war showed Russian soldiers fatally shooting a civilian
The unarmed civilian had his hands up when he was shot during the incident
His body was dragged into a ditch, while the soldiers led the woman and child he was traveling with into a forest

Russian soldiers deployed on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv were captured on camera seemingly shooting and killing a civilian even though the victim was unarmed and had his hands up.

Several non-military vehicles were traveling along the E40 highway several kilometers west of Kyiv shortly past 2:15 p.m. on March 7 when they encountered a Russian tank and tried to turn back, German broadcaster ZDF reported.

One of the cars, a silver-gray hatchback, ended up slowing down and stopping in the middle of the road, drone footage obtained by the outlet showed.

A passenger went out of the vehicle and put his hands up, but he was shot and fell beside the vehicle.

#Putin spricht von einer Spezialaktion in der #Ukraine, die sich nicht gegen Zivilisten richte. Eine Drohne filmte allerdings wenige Kilometer westlich von Kiew, wie ein Zivilist von offenbar russischen Soldaten erschossen wird. #ZDFfrontal exklusiv, mehr zum Krieg 21.15 Uhr @ZDF pic.twitter.com/1FDdD7v9Ww
— frontal (@ZDFfrontal) March 15, 2022

Russian soldiers, who were identified from the white bands they were wearing, later left their positions and reached the scene.

The group dragged the man's body away from the car and into a ditch, additional footage showed. They then led a woman and child traveling with the victim to a nearby forest, but there was no recording of what happened next.

ZDF was able to track down the drone's operator, a Ukrainian volunteer named Zanoza fighting for the so-called "Bugatti Company," to verify the videos.

The recordings, captured by a non-military DJI Mavic 3 drone, contained a time stamp. The location featured in the videos matched Sadova Vulytsya, 2, Mriia, Kyivs'ka Oblast, 08112 - a stretch of the E40 highway.

The matched location had the gas station, forest and roadside home present in the recordings.

A total of 726 civilians have been killed in Ukraine while 1,174 got injured between the start of the Russian invasion on Feb. 24 and Tuesday, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said in its most recent casualty report on the Ukraine-Russia war.

The actual figures may be "considerably higher" because the transmission of information in some areas has been delayed, with many reports still pending verification, the organization explained.

Russia has insisted that its military forces did not target civilians in the conflict. But the country has reportedly attacked non-military areas in Ukraine, such as densely populated areas, schools and even children's hospitals.

Russia is now facing accusations of war crimes.

U.S. President Joe Biden called his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin a "war criminal" Wednesday amid the rising number of civilian deaths in Ukraine.