Russia opened fire on its own surrendering soldiers with artillery, Ukraine says

• Russian troops trying to surrender were targeted by their own artillery, a Ukrainian unit said.
• Ukraine shared footage of three soldiers appearing to surrender before a big explosion.

Surrendering Russian troops were shot at and killed by their own artillery, Ukraine has claimed.

The 2nd Mechanized Battalion of Ukraine's 3rd Separate Assault Brigade said on Saturday that it was taking Russian prisoners in the frontline village of Andriivka in the eastern Donetsk region.

But it said that Russian forces, realizing the fight for the village was lost and many of its soldiers were surrendering, gave the order to open fire on its own troops.

According to the Ukrainian account, Ukraine still took two Russian soldiers captive after the explosion. It is not clear how many Russian soldiers were killed, but three soldiers were visible before the explosion in the drone footage shared by the battalion.

The video shows soldiers moving through the remnants of destroyed buildings, with explosions going off around them.

The video then appears to show Ukrainian soldiers interacting with three Russian soldiers, one of whom is seen lying down and two others holding up their arms and lying down.

A huge explosion then goes off, engulfing the group.

When the smoke clears, the footage shows multiple Ukrainian soldiers, a Russian soldier being led away, and another Russian moving on the ground before walking away with Ukrainian troops.

Ukrainian news outlet Euromaidan Press reported that "several" Russian soldiers died, some others survived, and Ukraine's troops were not harmed. It did not give figures.

It is not clear from the video who was responsible for the explosion.

Andriivka has become the scene of some of the most intense fighting in Ukraine's counteroffensive.

The 2nd battalion said it retook the village, which has been largely destroyed, and shared photos of its troops raising Ukraine's flag there on Monday.

It said that capturing and holding Andriivka is key for Ukraine's future counteroffensive efforts, including around the city of Bakhmut, which has been the longest and bloodiest battle in Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine and Western intelligence have previously pointed to Russia shooting at its own surrendering soldiers.

The UK Ministry of Defence said in November that Russia was likely deploying units that had the sole purpose of threatening to shoot soldiers caught retreating, which is something Russia has done in previous wars.

A Ukrainian official also told Insider in May that a Russian soldier who was caught on video surrendering to a Ukrainian drone was targeted by his own comrades as he fled.