(NewsInsights.org) – American fighters who volunteered to fight on behalf of Ukraine could face sanctions for war crimes, according to a new report. Titled “Killings of Surrendering Russians Divide an American-Led Unit,” the New York Times (NYT) piece details atrocities allegedly committed by members of an all-foreign unit led by former US Army National Guardsman Ryan O’Leary.
Formed after Russia’s invasion in February 2022, “Chosen Company” is a multinational unit within the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Although the team formally operates under Ukraine’s 59th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade, it consists of fighters from over a dozen countries, including the United States.
The first incident centers on eyewitness testimony from Caspar Grosse, a German medic who volunteered to fight on behalf of Ukraine early in the war. He recounted watching a team member kill an unarmed, badly wounded Russian soldier who crawled into a destroyed trench and tried to surrender in exchange for medical help.
According to Gross, other unit members appeared ready to help and began looking for bandages. That’s when a teammate decided to take matters into his own hands. The Greek soldier, referred to only as “Zeus,” walked up to the Russian and shot him two times, once in the chest and once in the head.
The NYT was careful to point out that it was unable to identify any evidence to support the trench killing other than Grosse’s testimony itself. However, the media outlet was able to corroborate his additional claims about two more incidents involving the same Greek man.
Grosse said that “Zeus” threw a live grenade at a Russian soldier who was attempting to surrender peacefully on the battlefield. The Armed Forces of Ukraine had shared an edited version of this encounter on social media, but it omitted the grenade-throwing incident from the clip. The Times later obtained access to the unedited version, confirming his allegations.
The media outlet was also granted access to text messages from Chosen Company’s private group chat. Those exchanges showed “Zeus” and multiple other team members bragging about killing Russian prisoners, a war crime punishable under the Geneva Convention.
Commander O’Leary denied all of the allegations in a subsequent interview with the Times. He characterized the text messages as soldiers “blowing off steam” and accused Grosse of fabricating the trench killing. The unit leader also argued that the grenade incident wasn’t so “black and white” and shared video evidence to support his claims.
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