Escaped Russian POW Reportedly Shoots 5 Ukrainian Troops Dead Near Kharkiv
A gunman killed five soldiers from Ukraine’s 72nd Mechanized Brigade in a residential house near Kharkiv on Oct. 13. The brigade said people believed to be Russian citizens may be involved, while investigators are considering several theories, including an escaped Russian captive and a Russian sabotage group. Officials have not confirmed any of these versions.
On Tuesday, Oct. 13, five Ukrainian soldiers were shot dead in a residential house near Kharkiv, Ukraine. The victims were members of the 72nd Mechanized Brigade, also known as the Black Zaporozhians. The Ukraine's Ukrainska Pravda reported that the attacker opened fire on the soldiers while they were inside the house, resulting in all five fatalities. The Kharkiv District Prosecutor’s Office opened a pre-trial murder investigation to determine the identity of the attacker and the circumstances surrounding the crime.
Citing an unnamed source within the military command in the Kharkiv region, BBC Ukraine reported that the shooter was a Russian soldier who had escaped captivity in the Kharkiv region. The 72nd Brigade confirmed the victims were its personnel and expressed condolences to their families, urging the media and public to refrain from disseminating unverified information.
The shooter, reportedly dressed in civilian clothes and armed with an automatic weapon, killed one soldier outside the house before continuing his attack inside, which lasted approximately two hours before he fled the scene. Suspline, a public broadcaster in Ukraine, reported a similar account, citing law enforcement sources. They noted the shooter was a man in civilian clothing, carrying an automatic weapon, and killed one soldier outside before shooting others inside.
This incident comes after a series of documented killings of Ukrainian service members by Russian forces. In April, four captured Ukrainian soldiers were executed by Russian troops near the village of Veterynarne in the Kharkiv region during the Orthodox Easter ceasefire. In July, a Ukrainian prisoner of war was reportedly executed by Russian troops in the Donetsk region following interrogation.
A month later, a Ukrainian soldier was killed near Myrne in the Donetsk region's Volnovakha district. In September, two captured Ukrainian soldiers were killed in the Donetsk region near Dobropillia. As of late 2025, Russia has executed at least 337 captured Ukrainian soldiers, according to Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets.
The ongoing investigation into the Kharkiv district shooting aims to establish the attacker's identity, whereabouts, and all details of the crime.
Written by urgent.news from Kyiv Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
