Hours after a battle in eastern Ukraine in August, a wounded and unarmed Russian soldier crawled through a nearly destroyed trench, seeking help from his captors, a unit of international volunteers led by an American.
Caspar Grosse, a German medic in that unit, said he saw the soldier plead for medical attention in a mix of broken English and Russian. It was dusk. A team member looked for bandages.
That is when, Mr. Grosse said, a fellow soldier hobbled over and fired his weapon into the Russian soldier’s torso. He slumped, still breathing. Another soldier fired — “just shot him in the head,” Mr. Grosse recalled in an interview.
Mr. Grosse said he was so upset by the episode that he confronted his commander. He said he spoke to The New York Times after what he regarded as unwarranted killings continued. It is highly unusual for a soldier to speak publicly about battlefield conduct, particularly involving men whom he still considers friends.
The shooting of the unarmed, wounded Russian soldier is one of several killings that have unsettled the Chosen Company, one of the best-known units of international troops fighting on behalf of Ukraine.
Mr. Grosse’s witness recollection is the only available evidence of the trench killing. But his accounts of other episodes are bolstered by his contemporaneous notes, video footage and text messages exchanged by members of the unit and reviewed by The Times.
Much respect to that German medic for coming forward. This is blatantly unacceptable, though some will idolize and immortalize actions like this akin to Speirs’ actions from Easy Company…
Reminds me of those Australian soldiers, too.
I’m not surprised they were German, to be honest. Children learn from a rather young age what the Nazis did and that it should never be allowed to happen again. Development of an ethical consciousness is an important part of upbringing. It’s definitely not “the enemy must be destroyed no matter what” like in the US.
(Too bad they can’t see the beam in their own eyes when it comes to support for apartheid Israel 🤷♂️)
I hope the UAF strictly discipline those who did this. They’ve disgraced their entire country.
Allegedly.
Mr. Grosse’s witness recollection is the only available evidence of the trench killing.
Treating surrending Russians well helps Ukraine since it encourages more Russians to surrender.
This is unacceptable and anyone doing this should see the full weight of the law
I lost all hope in humanity reading the Reddit comment section on this topic.
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He sold his ass to Putin
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NYT is a Russian propaganda
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Russian soldier did not follow Geneva Convention so it was ok to execute him
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Russians are violent pigs beyond saving. They should be exterminated.
Yes the Russian soldiers should be killed and removed from Ukraine. It is called war. A war they started.
A war they stared.
You are a liar. The soldiers did not start the war. Even if they enthusiastically participate in it, that does not excuse vigilantism.
Feel free to call me Russian, although I have a Ukrainian surname.
This is the genocide call as well. Crimea was under Russian control for over 10 years. People both in Russia and Ukraine receive passports on their 14th birthday. So you are calling to kill all crimeans between 14 and 24.
And no, if you think that they should’ve received their Ukrainian passport, you’re still wrong. Ukraine set a massive bureaucratic wall that is easy on paper, but is hard in reality
That is clearly not what I said but feel free to put words in my mouth. Russian soldiers have invaded this country and should be killed and removed from this country. I will add the word soldiers to my comment above so it is even clearer.
