Original article (in Bosnian) was published on 09/12/2022
Regional media claim that The New York Times published an analysis confirming that Ukrainians committed a war crime in the village of Makiivka. This, however, is not true.
Videos from the battlefield in the Ukrainian village of Makiivka caused numerous reactions. While the world media was engaged in analysing the events shown in the videos, in the domestic media space, partly favourable to Russian propaganda, the statements of Russian officials who accused Ukraine of having committed a war crime in this village in the Luhansk region echoed.
As Raskrinkavanje already wrote, domestic media reported incorrect statements from Russian sources that the Ukrainians were defending themselves from these accusations by stating that Russian soldiers were killed by mortars. However, as it was established, none of the Ukrainian officials said such a thing, and you can read the details on this link.
In the meantime, the New York Times (NYT) published an analysis of the videos, which some media outlets in the region misrepresented. On November 20, 2022, Webtribune published an article with the title claiming that the NYT “confirmed the guilt of Kyiv for the killing of Russian prisoners of war”:
The New York Times confirmed the guilt of Kyiv for the murder of Russian prisoners of war in Makiivka – VIDEO (Webtribune.rs, November 20, 2022)
The article stated that the NYT confirmed the authenticity of the footage and claimed that “Ukrainian soldiers committed a war crime”.
The authenticity of the video, which shows Russian soldiers being shot, was confirmed by The New York Times.
The publication analysed the video footage and concluded that Russian soldiers were captured. Ukrainian soldiers committed a war crime (…)
As the authors emphasize, killing or wounding a soldier who, after no longer having means of protection, surrendered at his discretion, is a violation of the laws of international armed conflict.
An identical article was also published on the same day by Objektivno (.net). The same title, and an almost identical article, were published on the same day by the web portal Srbin (.info). A day later, B92 published an article with the headline claiming that “The New York Times has confirmed that the Russians are telling the truth”:
The New York Times confirmed that the Russians are telling the truth: They have proof
The article from B92 was shared by Cafe (.ba), Big portal and Vesti (.rs). And in these articles, it was claimed that the NYT “stated that the footage showing the Ukrainian army killing captured Russian soldiers is authentic”. Unlike the mentioned media, this article also states that the NYT “added that what actually happened to the soldiers remains a mystery”, which contradicts the title itself.
On November 21, 2022, Informer published a similar article entitled “Americans” confirmed that “Ukraine committed a war crime”:
SCANDAL! AMERICANS CONFIRMED! The videos of the shooting of the Russians are authentic, THE SOLDIERS WERE KILLED AFTER THE SURRENDER, now there is no doubt – UKRAINE COMMITTED A WAR CRIME!
Although the headline claims that the “Americans” have solved the case and that there are no more dilemmas, the article also states that “what actually happened to the soldiers remains a ‘mystery’”:
“The videos… whose authenticity has been confirmed by the New York Times, offer a rare look at a gruesome moment in the war, but do not show how or why the Russian soldiers were killed”, NIT writes, adding that what actually happened to the soldiers remains “a mystery”.
The claim in the title that anyone has confirmed that Ukraine committed a war crime is not mentioned in the text.
On November 22, 2022, BIHNEWS published an article with a similar title:
CONFIRMED by the New York Times: Ukrainians shot Russian prisoners of war and committed a crime against the Geneva Convention
However, none of these articles mentions the claims in the title.
What did the New York Times conclude?
The New York Times published an analysis of the videos written about by the regional media on November 20, 2022. The analysis indeed confirmed the authenticity of the footage, i.e. that the case from the footage took place in Makiivka, a village in the Luhansk region, and that the footage shows Russian and Ukrainian soldiers.
However, already in the very introduction of the article, after the allegation that the videos show one of the many gruesome war moments, it is clearly stated that the videos “do not show how and why Russian soldiers were killed”.
The footage, detailed below and authenticated by The New York Times, offers a rare look at one gruesome moment among many in the war but does not show how or why Russian soldiers were killed. In the end, they leave a mystery that both sides used in the online battle for hearts and minds.
The NYT further explains that Russia accuses Ukraine of the war crime of killing unarmed prisoners, but also that Ukraine simultaneously accuses Russia of a war crime, stating that Russian soldiers opened fire during the surrender.
Moscow and Kyiv are now accusing each other of committing war crimes in the same episode – the Russians accuse Ukrainian forces of “relentlessly firing on unarmed Russian soldiers” and Ukraine’s human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets claims Russian soldiers opened fire during the act of surrender.
A good part of the NYT article was devoted to describing and recounting the videos in detail. It is explained that the footage shows ten Russian soldiers one by one, some of them with their hands raised, coming out of the ruined house and lying on the floor, in what appears to be an act of surrender. It is stated that “the capture of these soldiers was initially orderly and without incident – but suddenly everything changes”.
As he leaves the house, the 11th Russian soldier opens fire targeting a Ukrainian soldier. Ukrainians are surprised. The phone camera shakes as the Ukrainian soldier filming the scene flinches. Analysis of the footage of what happens next shows how the Ukrainian soldier standing next to him raises his rifle and aims at the armed Russian.
The video ends and it is unclear what happens next. But another aerial shot of the location shows the bloody aftermath.
It goes on to explain that the next video shows the dead bodies of Russian soldiers. It is also emphasized that it seems that the Russian soldier who shot at the Ukrainians died on the spot.
It appears that the Russian soldier who fired at the Ukrainians died on the spot and is lying in the same position from which he fired.
The article also quoted the statements of Dr. Rohini Haar, a forensic expert and faculty member at the University of California, who stated that it appeared that most of the soldiers had been shot in the head.
Most seem to have been shot in the head. Pools of blood are visible. This indicates that they were just left dead. There seems to have been no effort to pick them up and help them.
Dr. Haar noted that when the Russian soldiers surrendered, they lay down, seemingly unarmed, with their arms outstretched or behind their heads.
“They are considered hors de combat, or non-combatants – effectively prisoners of war”, Dr Haar said.
Dr. Haar states that, according to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, the killing of unarmed prisoners of war is a violation of the law on international armed conflicts.
In the same article, Dr. Iva Vukusic, an expert in the prosecution of war crimes from the University of Utrecht, states that it is difficult to determine whether a war crime has been committed or not based on the recordings alone.
“Was it in one or two bursts at the moment or immediately after the last Russian came out and shot at the Ukrainians?”, asked Dr. Vukusic. “Or it was after the immediate threat was neutralized, as an act of revenge – then it is more obviously a war crime”, she added.
If the Russians were shot in the heat of the moment, said Dr. Vukusic, it is not clear that it is a crime.
“If these prisoners have not been searched yet, then the Ukrainians do not know if they are armed, even if they are on the ground”.
Dr. Vukusic also states that the actions of the Russian attacker are crucial. They could be considered perfidious – feigning surrender or civilian status as a ruse against Ukrainians – which could be prosecuted as a war crime under the Geneva Convention.
“It is very possible that, if this man had not shot, all of them would have been captured as soldiers and survived”, added Dr. Vukusic.
From all this, it is clear that The New York Times did not confirm “Kyiv’s guilt”, that is, that “Ukraine committed a war crime”, as claimed by Informer and Webtribune. It is also not true that “The New York Times confirmed that the Russians are telling the truth”, as B92 claims, given that the Russians accuse the Ukrainians of war crimes, which is not what the NYT “confirmed”.
What the New York Times confirmed was the authenticity of the recordings themselves. This only means that the videos were taken in a Ukrainian village and that they show Russian and Ukrainian soldiers. Another important fact confirmed by the NYT is that the 11th Russian soldier opened fire on Ukrainian soldiers when leaving the facility.
This media outlet explicitly stated that the footage does not answer the question of how and why the Russian soldiers were killed, which leaves a mystery that both sides use to accuse the other of crimes.
The NYT also offered the opinion of experts on the recordings and the event itself, who, just like the NYT, did not say that the Russians or the Ukrainians committed a war crime. What they said is that killing prisoners is a war crime, but faking surrender and opening fire is also a war crime. No one could determine with certainty which of these two possibilities happened in this Ukrainian village. The conclusion of the NYT and the interlocutors is that additional investigation is needed in this case to find an answer to that question.
Additionally, in the articles of the mentioned web portals, the statements of Dr. Iva Vukusic are completely omitted, which points to the most important aspect of this story, that of the 11th Russian soldier who opened fire on Ukrainian soldiers. She states that it is also possible that the Russian side could also be guilty of a war crime by this act of opening fire during the surrender, but emphasizes that it is not possible to make a final judgment from the recordings. Another part that was omitted from the articles of the mentioned media is the one in which it is confirmed that the 11th Russian soldier shot at the Ukrainian soldiers before the recording was interrupted.
Accordingly, we evaluate the claims from Webtribune, Informer and B92 web portals as fake news. We evaluate all transmission of these claims in other media as distribution of fake news.Due to the selective transfer of information from the NYT article and the omission of certain parts, all the mentioned articles, except for the one from the BIHNEWS, are rated as manipulation of facts and biased reporting.