A Russian soldier with a BM-21 Grad jet rocket system in Russia’s western Kursk region. Photo: EPA-EFE / RUSSIAN DEFENCE MINISTRY

Russia’s state-owned news agency TASS has reported that the remains of seven Russian civilians were discovered in two basements in a village in Russia’s western Kursk region that was previously under occupation by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).

The bodies of two civilians were found in one basement in the village of Russkoe Porechnoe, TASS reported, while the remains of another five civilians and a dog were found in a second.

Several of the dead showed signs of serious injury, including one with a head wound, while another had been severely wounded in an explosion, TASS added. Unverified video footage of the bodies apparently taken by Russian servicemen shows some of the civilians with their hands tied. The AFU has yet to comment on the incident.

Russia’s Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case into the incident, and has alleged that the AFU was responsible for the deaths of at least seven civilians in the village earlier this month.

Maria Zakharova, Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, called the incident “a gross violation of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Convention” and pledged that, once identified by investigators, the perpetrators would face “deserved and certain punishment”.

While Russkoe Porechnoe was captured shortly after Ukraine launched its surprise incursion into the Kursk region in August 2024, the Russian Defence Ministry announced earlier this month that the village had been recaptured and was now back under Russian control.