Vladimir Putin’s forces have been seen killing three of their own wounded servicemen with FPV drones in the captured Ukrainian city of Chasiv Yar. According to Ukraine’s 24th Separate Mechanised Brigade, the Russian servicemen had been captured by Ukraine’s defence forces and had been made to change into neutral clothing.
The brigade noted that the injured servicemen were being evacuated from forward positions in Chasiv Yar during the declared Easter ceasefire on April 12. “They were moving from the line of contact to the rear, unarmed, with signs of receiving medical care, and using crutches – in accordance with conventions and ceasefire conditions,” the brigade said. What attackers did not realise was that the wounded soldiers were captured Russian personnel who had been taken prisoner a day earlier and were evacuated first to test Russia’s willingness to observe the truce.
“To ensure the safe medical evacuation of its own personnel, the brigade command decided to dress the captured personnel […] into neutral uniforms and conduct a test evacuation to verify the enemy’s compliance with its own promises,” the brigade, named for King Danylo, reported in a Facebook post on Sunday (April 12).
The Russians spotted the wounded soldiers – reportedly named as Senior Sgt Stanislav Zhuravlyov, Pte Aleksandr Choshev and Junior Sgt Andrei Zagrebin – and attacked them with FPV drones. All three were killed.
The brigade published video footage of the incident. The Kyiv Independent has so far been unable to verify the 24th Brigade’s claims.
Ukraine’s General Staff has accused Russia of violating the Easter ceasefire over 2,000 times.
Over 15 hours, from 4pm local time on April 11 to 7am on April 12, Russia reportedly committed 2,299 violations of the declared truce, the General Staff said. The violations included 28 assault operations, 479 shelling incidents, 747 kamikaze drone attacks and 1,045 FPV drone strikes.
As of April 2026, Chasiv Yar is under Russian control, though it remains a focal point of intense localised fighting and drone strikes. Its elevated terrain gives it strategic importance, making it a natural defensive fortress and artillery observation post. Its capture provides Russian forces a staging ground to advance toward the major industrial hubs of Kramatorsk and Slovyansk.
