Following the release of graphic footage online depicting the apparent execution of an unarmed Ukrainian prisoner of war by Russian soldiers, Ukraine has pledged to identify the perpetrators.
President Volodymyr Zelensky declared late on Monday, “We will locate the murderers.”
In the video, the Ukrainian soldier is seen smoking a cigarette in a trench. Before being slain with automatic weapons, he says, “Glory to Ukraine.”
Tymofiy Shadura, who had been missing since February 3, was identified as him on Tuesday by the Ukrainian military.
The 30th Separate Mechanised Brigade said he was last seen near Bakhmut, the site of recent combat.
“The corpse of our service member is currently in the temporarily occupied territory,” the statement said, citing preliminary information. It was added that identification could be accomplished after the body was returned.
Before the soldier was named, Mr. Shadura’s sister told: “My brother would surely be capable of standing up to the Russians like that.
He never hid the truth in his life and would never do so in the presence of an adversary.
After the POW is shot, a gunman, believed to be a Russian officer, says “die” and uses an expletive.
The alleged murderer or killers, who cannot be seen in the video, have not been identified.
Russia has not commented publicly on the incident.
According to the Ukrainian military’s general staff: “The execution of a defenseless prisoner demonstrates a callous and flagrant disregard for international humanitarian law and the customs of war. This is what worthless assassins, not warriors, do.
“The Russian occupiers have once again demonstrated that their primary objective in Ukraine is the merciless annihilation of Ukrainians.”
Since President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Kyiv and its Western allies have accused Russian troops of perpetrating mass war crimes. Russia refutes the claims.
In his video address, President Zelensky stated that “the occupiers” were responsible for the death of “a warrior who courageously proclaimed to their faces, ‘Glory to Ukraine!'”
“I want us all to respond in unison to his words: “Glory to the Hero!” Glory to the Brave! Honor to Ukraine!”
Mr. Zelensky was alluding to a Ukrainian military combat cry that has gained popularity.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted that the footage was “another proof this conflict is genocide” and demanded that the International Criminal Court conduct an “immediate investigation.”
Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets accused Russian forces of committing war crimes by violating the Geneva Conventions regarding the treatment of POWs.
Andriy Kostin, the prosecutor general of Ukraine, stated that a criminal investigation had already been initiated.
Ukraine has previously accused Russian forces of torturing, raping, and murdering Ukrainian combatants.
A captured Ukrainian soldier was castrated in eastern Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Donbas area last July.
The Russian fighter who attacked Severodonetsk was Ramzan Kadyrov’s unit.
Moscow accused Ukrainian forces of killing several Russian detainees in November.
It followed a video from the front line in eastern Ukraine showing the apparent surrender of several soldiers, in an incident that resulted in their deaths.
A Ukrainian official stated that Russian soldiers “staged” the surrender in an attempt to attack their captors.
