Civilians walk through a devastated forest during their evacuation from the area of Sudzha town, which was recently retaken by Russia's armed forces in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in the Kursk region, Russia, in this still image from video released March 16, 2025. Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
(Reuters) - Russian investigators said on Wednesday that they were probing the alleged killing of eight Russian civilians by Ukrainian soldiers in Russia's Kursk region, parts of which were controlled by Kyiv before Russia regained ground this year.
In a statement on Telegram, Svetlana Petrenko, a spokesperson for Russia's Investigative Committee, which handles serious crimes, said the charges related to deaths of residents of the village of Guyevo, which Russia said on Tuesday it had retaken.
"The investigation established the fact of targeted shelling by Ukrainian armed forces of civilians during their evacuation in April 2025, as a result of which six people were killed," Petrenko said.
She said that the investigation also concerned two more civilian deaths in Guyevo in March 2025, alongside reports of alleged looting by Ukrainian forces.
Reuters was unable to verify the reports. There was no immediate response from Ukraine's defence ministry or its general staff to emailed requests for comment.
Russian forces in Ukraine have been accused of committing crimes against civilians since Moscow began its full scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russian officials have denied the allegations.
(Writing by Felix Light; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
