Original article (in Serbian) was published on 25/02/2022
“RUSSIANS ENTERED KYIV IN A GENIOUS WAY! They changed into Ukrainian uniforms, and then started the assault”, the website Srbijadanas.com reports enthusiastically. Earlier in the day, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense announced that Russians had entered the Ukrainian capital, dressed in Ukrainian uniforms. However, what Serbia Danas considers “genius” is actually a violation of the Geneva Convention, which defines the rules of war.
The text published on the website Srbijadanas.com was written after the spokesperson of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Gana Maljar, announced on social networks this morning that Russian soldiers were heading towards the center of Kyiv.
“Russian soldiers seized two vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, dressed in the uniforms of the Ukrainian army, and are rapidly moving towards the center of Kyiv from the direction of Obolon (suburbs of Kyiv). A column of Russian military trucks is following them”, Maljar wrote.
The text of the website Srbija Danas is written in a neutral tone, but the title is more than biased. The “genius” way of entering Kyiv violates the rules and customs of war regulated by the Geneva Convention and international humanitarian law.
Namely, one of the protocols of the Geneva Convention, which refers to the national symbols of soldiers in war, prescribes the following in Article 39:
“It is forbidden in armed conflict to use the flags, symbols, military insignia or uniforms of opposing sides during an attack, or to cover up, support, protect or obstruct military operations”, the document states.
At the level of national legislation and military manuals on warfare, the penalties for such conduct in the war vary from country to country. Some are considered “inappropriate,” and they are allowed only in exceptional cases, while some are considered a crime for which imprisonment is threatened.