Ukraine government investigates video alleged to show torture of Russian PoWs

Video footage purporting to show the torture of Russian prisoners of war is being investigated by the Ukrainian government.

The film, which has not been verified, appears to show Ukrainian soldiers removing three hooded Russians from a van before shooting them in the legs.

The Ukrainian military commander Gen Valerii Zaluzhnyi accused Russia of staging the videos.

Oleksander Motuzyanyk, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian military, said they did not know who was involved or where the incidents took place.

The footage emerged as Ukrainian forces claimed significant victories on the battlefield on Monday, with the local mayor of Irpin saying that the town, which is on the north-west outskirts of Kyiv, had been retaken.

In Kharkiv, the mayor, Ihor Terekhov, said the war was turning against the Russians despite his city being shelled for weeks.

He said that at the latest count the Russians had destroyed or damaged 1,177 residential buildings, 53 kindergartens, more than 50 schools and 10 hospitals.