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The UN human rights mission declared itself “appalled” after a video was released online in which Russian soldiers allegedly recorded themselves decapitating a Ukrainian prisoner of war with a knife, and called for a “proper investigation”. For the moment, the images, which were disseminated in pro-Russian Telegram groups, have not been able to be confirmed and Russia has asked to corroborate them.
“Wrap her up…and send her to the commander” is heard in the video as footage shows a man in a camouflage uniform with a white cloth leg band – a symbol commonly associated with the Russian Army and pro-Russian fighters. – decapitating with a knife another man, lying on the ground and wearing the yellow armband of the Ukrainian military.
Since Tuesday, April 11, pro-Russian Telegram accounts have been broadcasting images of this scene. Its origin and authenticity have not yet been verified, but the immediate surroundings of the area – vegetation, sun – seem to indicate that the video may have been recorded several months ago.
In a video message posted on Telegram on Wednesday and referring to the footage, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced “the execution of a Ukrainian prisoner.” The leader criticized – apparently referring to Russian soldiers – “the ease with which these beasts kill,” before adding, “We won’t forget anything. We won’t forgive the killers either.”
The UN human rights mission declared itself “appalled” by the video. He also referred to a second video that allegedly showed “mutilated bodies, apparently of Ukrainian prisoners of war”, for which he called for “a proper investigation of these incidents and the accountability of the perpetrators”.
Moscow acknowledges that “these are, of course, horrible images”
Ukraine has compared Russia to the Islamic State group and called for an investigation by the International Criminal Court. Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, posted a comment on Twitter stating that “It is absurd that Russia, which is worse than the Islamic State, presides over the UN Security Council.”
The Ukrainian security service, the SBU, announced an investigation. “We will find these monsters… They will be punished,” SBU chief Vassyl Maliouk said in a statement.
The European Union “will call to account all perpetrators and accomplices of war crimes” in Ukraine, a spokeswoman for community diplomacy said on Wednesday. “If (the veracity of this video) is confirmed, it is another harsh reminder of the inhumane nature of Russian aggression,” Nabila Massrali, spokesman for EU diplomacy chief Josep Borrell, added at a daily press conference in Brussels.
According to the independent online outlet ‘The Insider’, the video appeared on the Telegram channel of Vladislav Pozdniakov, leader of a Russian nationalist group.
Oleh Tsarev, Ukrainian separatist leader from Novorossia (“New Russia”) condemned the video: “Cutting off a prisoner’s head is a crime. Filming it is idiotic. And for those who post all this on the Web, there is no definition.”
Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner Group, also condemned the video through the group’s official account: “Cutting off people’s heads is wrong”, and stated that there was no evidence that it was filmed “in Bakhmut” or that “Wagner members were implicated”.
The Kremlin asked that the video be verified. “These are, of course, horrible images,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitri Peskov told reporters. “In the world of fake news we live in, it is necessary to ensure the authenticity of this video,” he added.
Beheading cases registered since the summer of 2022
On Monday, the Institute for the Study of War reported in its daily report that since the summer of 2022 there had been several cases of beheadings carried out by “Wagner’s forces” and directed against “Ukrainian soldiers” in the surroundings of Bakhmut and Popasna.
According to , another video posted on pro-Russian social accounts on April 8 and attributed to Wagner Group mercenaries showed the decapitated bodies of two Ukrainian fighters near destroyed vehicles. The next day, a photo of a skull stuck on a stick and presented as taken in Bakhmut appeared on the Russian social network VKontakte, according to ‘The Insider’.
In early April, another video authenticated by ‘The New York Times’ showed the execution of a Russian prisoner by Ukrainian soldiers. In November, Russia accused Ukraine of executing more than ten of its soldiers who had laid down their arms, denouncing a “war crime”, based on videos posted on social media. kyiv has denied these accusations.
In late March, the UN had accused Ukrainian and Russian forces of summary executions of prisoners of war.
With AFP and Reuters
