Kremlin to investigate alleged video that shows Ukrainian forces mistreating captured Russian soldiers

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The Kremlin said on Monday that Russian investigators would look into a video circulated on social media that purported to show Ukrainian forces mistreating captured Russian soldiers.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the video, which he said contained "monstrous images", needed to be legally assessed and for those who took part in what he described as torture to be held responsible.

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"Currently, no one can confirm or deny the veracity of this video. It's not known where it's happening, or who the participants are," military spokesperson Oleksander Motuzyanyk said.

"The enemy produces and shares videos with the inhuman treatment of alleged 'Russian prisoners' by 'Ukrainian soldiers' in order to discredit the Ukrainian Defence Forces," Zaluzhny said.

Ukraine's armed forces respect international norms, Zaluzhny said, accusing Russia of producing such videos in order to discredit Ukrainian soldiers. He did not provide any evidence to support his accusation.

Sergii Nykyforov, press spokesperson for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said the video must be assessed "in the context of both real and information wars."

The killing in action of several Russian generals and senior military figures in Ukraine has revealed the extent of the heavy losses and logistical problems encountered by Moscow's invading army.

According to Kyiv, seven Russian generals have been killed since the invasion was launched on February 24, in what Western officials say would be an unusually high casualty rate among military top brass.

It is not possible to independently verify this figure and official Russian sources have so far confirmed only the death of one general and another senior naval commander.

According to the Ukraine defence ministry on Friday, the seventh Russian general to lose his life was Lieutenant General Yakov Rezantsev who was killed in fighting in Chornobaivka outside the southern city of Kherson.

With its aspirations for a quick victory dashed by a stiff Ukrainian resistance, Russia has increasingly focused on grinding down Ukraine’s military in the east in the hope of forcing Kyiv into surrendering part of the country’s territory to possibly end the war.

The bulk of the Ukrainian army is concentrated in eastern Ukraine, where it has been locked up in fighting with Moscow-backed separatists in a nearly eight-year conflict. If Russia succeeds in encircling and destroying the Ukrainian forces in the country’s industrial heartland called Donbas, it could try to dictate its terms to Kyiv and, possibly, attempt to split the country in two.

The Russian military declared that the “first stage of the operation” had been largely accomplished, allowing Russian troops to concentrate on their “top goal — the liberation of Donbas.”

Many observers say the shift in strategy could reflect President Vladimir Putin’s acknowledgment that his plan for a blitz in Ukraine has failed, forcing him to narrow his goals and change tactics amid a disastrous war that has turned Russia into a pariah and decimated its economy.

In a post on Telegram, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's adviser Mykhailo Podoliak described an "extraordinary" death rate among Russian generals and senior military figures.

(With inputs from agencies)