KEY POINTS

  • The audio recorded a Russian soldier ordering a fellow soldier to 'slay' all civilians
  • In another intercepted audio, a Russian soldier ordered troops to shell two Ukrainian villages to the ground
  • Russian soldiers have also been accused of raping civilians amid the war in Ukraine

A Russian soldier was recorded telling fellow troops to kill all civilians they encounter in Ukraine amid the war, according to an intercepted phone call.

In a new audio released by the Security Service of Ukraine, a Russian soldier was recorded identifying what he described as a vehicle carrying two civilians.

“A car drove by, but I’m not sure if it was a car or a military vehicle,” the soldier said. “There were two people coming out of the grove dressed as civilians.”

“Kill them all, for f*** sake,” another Russian soldier replied, according to the intercepted phone call. “What is wrong with you? If there are civilians, slay them all.”

In another intercepted audio, a Russian soldier was heard ordering his fellow troop to shell residential buildings and settlements until they “raze” to the ground.

“Shell everywhere. Shell the settlements directly,” the soldier said. “Shell them a lot to raze these two villages to the ground.”

The latest audios released by the Ukraine’s Security Service add to the growing evidence pointing toward Russia’s involvement in the civilian killings in Ukraine.

In a drone video taken before March 10, a person was seen riding a bicycle down a street in Bucha. When the individual turned a corner, a Russian tank was seen firing at the civilian. The cyclist’s body was later found lying on the road along with other bodies of Ukrainian civilians.

In one account, a 14-year-old boy named Yuriy said he and his father were cycling to Bucha’s administration building to get aid packages from local officials when a Russian soldier stopped them on the street. The soldier shot both victims, killing Yuriy’s father in the process. The teenager, who managed to run away after the soldier went behind a nearby tank, suffered two gunshot wounds from the incident.

Russian soldiers are also accused of being involved in several rape cases. In late March, a 33-year-old woman said two Russian soldiers raped her while her 4-year-old son was crying in the next room.

“He told me to take my clothes off. Then they both raped me one after the other. They didn’t care that my son was in the boiler room crying. They told me to go shut him up and come back,” the woman told The Times of London.

Several girls in Ivankiv, Ukraine, also cut their hair so they would not get raped by Russian soldiers who were occupying their town before they were liberated by Ukrainian forces on March 30.

A soldier takes a photograph of his comrade as he poses beside a destroyed Russian tank and armoured vehicles, amid Russia's invasion on Ukraine in Bucha, in Kyiv region, Ukraine April 2, 2022.
A soldier takes a photograph of his comrade as he poses beside a destroyed Russian tank and armoured vehicles, amid Russia's invasion on Ukraine in Bucha, in Kyiv region, Ukraine April 2, 2022. Reuters / ZOHRA BENSEMRA