Trigger warning: Some readers may find the details of this report disturbing. Discretion is advised
In the Russian-occupied eastern Ukrainian town of Volnovakha, a family of nine, including minor children, have been found shot dead in their house. Russian soldiers have been blamed for the gruesome killings.
Ukrainian officials have alleged that the Kapkanets family was killed on 27 October for refusing to give their house to the soldiers.
Arrests and more
As per a BBC report, Russian investigators have detained two male suspects, who they say are Russian soldiers from the Far East.
Photographs of the brutal killings have emerged on social media. They show blood-splattered and bullet-riddled bodies lying in bed. In some heartbreaking images, the slain family could be seen lying locked in an embrace.
Ukraine and Russia have both opened their own investigations into the merciless slaying.
‘Bloodied hands’
Taking to Telegram, Ukrainian ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets on Monday said that “Russians’ bloodied hands were involved” in the Volnovakha killings.
As per Lubinets’ statement, preliminary information has revealed that “the occupiers have killed the whole of the Kapkanets family, who were celebrating a birthday and who had refused to hand their own house over to occupiers from Chechnya.”
Citing preliminary information, the prosecutors’ office in Ukraine-controlled Donetsk has alleged that attackers in Russian army uniforms shot the entire family after they refused to comply with demands to vacate their family home. It also said that two children, aged around five and nine, were among the victims.
Russia says it was a domestic conflict
On the other hand, Russia’s official Investigations Committee has said that as per preliminary information, “the motive for the crime was a domestic conflict.”
They said that two men arrested in relation to the crime were Russian soldiers from the country’s far East, who had signed contracts with the Russian military.
Astra, a Russian news channel on Telegram quoting the slain family’s neighbours, reported that the “killers were in the military”. One neighbour told the news outlet: “We’re all scared.”
Another Russian Telegram channel, Baza, reported that the family had “a conflict with unidentified men wearing military fatigues with no insignia”.
(With inputs from agencies)
Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on Ukraine-Russia war on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing developments, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.
