Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Christoph Soeder | EUROPAPRESS
Zelensky asked his international allies to react to “how easily these beasts kill”
A new crime video that shows a beheaded Ukrainian soldierapparently by Russian mercenaries Wagner’s group. This week, “a video surfaced showing the Russian occupiers showing their bestial nature: severely torturing a Ukrainian prisoner and cutting off his head with a knife,” Vasiliy Maliuk, director of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), said on Wednesday. . “An investigation has been launched (…) we will find the perpetrators and they will be punished,” he added.
President of the State, Vladimir Zelensky, For her part, she called on the international community to “react” to such crimes. There is something the world cannot ignore: how easily these beasts are killed, Zelensky said on Telegram. In his opinion, “everyone must react, all leaders”, and added: “Don’t expect this to be forgotten, neither will the murderers, who will be legally responsible for every crime.” At the end, the Ukrainian leader emphasizes that “it is necessary to defeat terror.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba condemned that “Russia is worse than the Islamic State (…) that it is absurd that he can preside over the UN Security Council this month.” Kuleba believes that “Russian terrorists must be expelled from Ukraine and from the UN, they must be held accountable for their crimes.” Namely, the United Nations reacted with “dismay” to the content of the video. “It shows the brutal execution of a man who appears to be a Ukrainian prisoner of war,” the UN said in a statement.
The Kremlin also considers the video “horrific”, although it stresses that its authenticity will have to be verified. “Of course, these are terrible pictures,” a spokesman for the Russian presidency told reporters on Tuesday. Dmitry Peskov. But he qualified: “In the world of fraud we live in, the authenticity of this video must be verified”. Another video with beheadings, allegedly committed last summer, appeared earlier on Russian social networks, and is located in the vicinity of Bakhmut.
The latest video shows a soldier wearing white ribbons, like those worn by Russian forces, beheading a soldier with a Ukrainian insignia with a knife. The screams at the beginning of the video suggest that the victim was alive at the time of the decapitation. The first to react was the head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, Andriy Yermak, who warned that “there will be answers and accountability for the killers.” His communications secretary, Daria Zarivna, said the main goal of such barbaric executions was “intimidation, not only of Ukraine, but also of Western societies.”
The Institute for the Study of American War (ISW) pointed out on Monday for Wagner’s group as the author of beheading. In the summer of 2022, videos were also released of Russian soldiers castrating a Ukrainian soldier, and last month another video showed the summary shooting of Oleksandr Matsievsky, a Ukrainian elite sniper, for saying “Glory to Ukraine!” He was unarmed, calm and smoking a cigarette.
Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmitri Lubinets then stated that the execution of a prisoner of war was a violation of the Geneva Convention. He was other cases of atrocities on both sides. In November, footage emerged of the execution of three Russian soldiers in the Lugansk region. The Russian Ministry of Defense called it a “bloody massacre”. Ukrainian authorities promised to investigate the incident.
According to the United Nations, summary executions are not only carried out against unarmed prisoners, but also, above all, civilians. “Hundreds” of incidents were recorded in areas occupied by Russian troops, not only of deaths, but also of torture, arbitrary arrests and deportations.
The European Union (EU) will demand “that all perpetrators and facilitators of war crimes in Ukraine be held accountable,” a spokeswoman for EU diplomacy chief Josep Borrell warned after the release of the latest video. Brussels “has no information about the authenticity of this video (…), but, if confirmed, it is a new brutal reminder of the inhuman nature of Russian aggression,” said Nabila Massrali.
Source: La Vozde Galicia
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
