Newly released surveillance video shows two Russian troops shooting unarmed civilians in the back outside Kyiv in the early days of the war. The footage, obtained by CNN, was shot on March 16 outside a car dealership along the main highway to the capital. The owner of the car dealership and a security guard employed there were present at the business as several Russian troops tried to break in. Footage shows the two civilians apparently talking to the soldiers and being searched before the troops let them walk away. But then two Russian soldiers can be seen raising their rifles and deliberately taking aim at the two unarmed men before firing, striking them in the back. The 68-year-old security guard, Leonid Plyats, managed to get up and make it to his security booth to call local Ukrainian fighters for help, but upon their arrival they came under fire by the Russian forces and were unable to save him. He reportedly told them the Russian soldiers had simply asked for cigarettes before shooting him and the car dealership owner, whose family asked that he not be identified. The Russian troops went on to loot the business and toast each other over drinks after the shooting, footage shows. Plyats’ daughter, Yulia, called the Russian soldiers “executioners” and said she has not been able to bring herself to watch the video. The killings are now being investigated by Ukrainian authorities as a war crime, one of potentially hundreds reported since Russia invaded on Feb. 24.
