It's a war crime to wear certain insignias or flags, or to falsely surrender or feign injury for the purpose of ambush... But really, what's he supposed to do: "oh, sorry, this was a misunderstanding; please shoot me"? They're in a defensive and illegal war against a belligerent that flagrantly disregards human rights and international law... Two wrongs don't make a right or whatever but this is like a clerical error versus organized crime

[–] favoredponcho@lemmy.zip 21 points 1 day ago* (last edited 18 hours ago) (1 children)

Doesn’t seem like he surrendered. He had his weapon. Also, didn’t feign injury from what can be seen. The orcs just mistook him for an ally it appears. Is this really a war crime?

[–] thebestaquaman@lemmy.world 11 points 17 hours ago

Not a war crime unless he was wearing russian insignia, which I see no reason to believe he was. Both sides are using a lot of the same gear, and plenty of Ukrainians speaking fluent russian.

[–] Carmakazi@lemmy.world 17 points 1 day ago

Depending on the full context this may be a legitimate ruse. He did not abuse protected insignia or actions as you said. This is why you have IFF protocols, and it's at least partly on the Russians for being so credulous.