A Russian soldier was recorded saying he was told to 'kill everyone we see' in Ukraine, including civilians, which is a war crime, according to audio obtained by The New York Times

In a phone call, a Russian soldier recounted how his commander ordered troops to kill Ukrainian civilians in order to hide their location, which is a war crime.

Russian soldiers made a number of unauthorized phone calls in March, which were picked up by Ukrainian law enforcement agencies in the area where civilians were massacred. The recordings were obtained by the New York Times.

Russian soldiers faced a bleak reality in the early days of the war in Ukraine. Some of the atrocities soldiers witnessed were documented in a report by the Times.

In a call to his girlfriend, a Russian soldier identified only by his first name, Sergey, said that his commander had ordered him to take Ukrainian civilians to the forest to be executed.

There's a lot of people walking around. Sergey said that they were given the order to kill everyone.

His girlfriend wanted to know why the fuck.

We might lose our positions. "That's what we're going to do," Sergey said. Kill any civilians that walk by and drag them into the forest. I don't want to kill any more people because I will have to stare at them.

It is a war crime to kill civilians.

"Intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities" would be considered a serious violation of the laws in international armed conflict.

Russia was accused by the UN of committing a long list of war crimes.

Sexual violence, torture, and indiscriminate attacks with explosives are some of the atrocities listed by the UN.

In a recording between Sergey and his girlfriend, the Russian soldier said that a captain ordered the execution of three men because they didn't have enough food to eat.

We checked their clothes after detaining them and undressing them. It was a decision to let them go. We could lose our position if we let them go. The decision was made to shoot them in the forest.

He said they wouldn't have been taken as prisoners because they wouldn't have enough food to eat.

Russia was suspected of committing atrocities in Ukraine by a number of international entities. Russian forces have been accused of committing war crimes in Ukraine, including by world leaders.

The president accused Putin of committing "genocide" in Ukraine. In April, Biden said that Putin was trying to eliminate the idea of being a Ukrainian.