It’s an unbearable video that has been circulating on social media since Tuesday. The images showing the beheading of a suspected Ukrainian prisoner of war sparked outrage in Ukraine, with President Volodymyr Zelensky denouncing a new tampering by Russian “monsters”. If the video still needs official sanction, it has been the subject of condemnations in particular from the United Nations.
• Unsustainable video
The video is a minute and forty seconds long and has been circulating since Tuesday. In this photo, a man in camouflage clothing, his face masked, snaps the neck of another man in uniform who struggles on the ground and screams. ” This painful “.
sequel after announcement
Moscow newspaper: We do not want to be complicit in the crimes of the state
Seconds later, the screaming stops and we hear a man behind the camera urging the executioner, in Russian, to stop “decapitation” from the victim. The latter finishes decapitating him with a knife, and the severed head is shown to the camera. “You have to throw it in the bag and send it to the captain.” said a voice in Russian. In front of the camera, we also show the victim’s jacket crossed with a Ukrainian trident and skull.
• Ukraine condemns the Russian “monsters”.
President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced it “monsters” Russians after posting this video. “How easy it is to kill these monsters. This video of the execution of a Ukrainian prisoner of war, the world must watch. This is a video of Russia as it is”He released it in a video posted to Instagram.
“It’s no accident. […] It already happened earlier. So was Boutcha. thousands of times »He continued, pointing to the outskirts of Kiev, which became a symbol of the atrocities attributed to the Russian army. “Prison sentences for murderers and a court for evil”he added.
The head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Dmytro Kuleba, felt that Russia was, too ‘Worse than the Islamic State’a jihadist organization that filmed the executions of its hostages, particularly the beheadings. “Russian terrorists must be expelled from Ukraine and the United Nations and held accountable for their crimes”he said on Twitter.
sequel after announcement
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) opened an investigation into this matter “war crime”. We will find these monsters […] they will be punishedHead of the SBU Vasil Malyuk in a press release.
• The video still needs to be validated
At the moment, the authenticity of the video cannot be verified, according to Agence France-Presse, which has not yet been able to determine the place and time of the filming.
In Mutyzyn, a tormented Ukrainian village: “Sergei is no more. My heart is charred. Goblins shot the house.”
For her part, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Jana Malyar indicated on Telegram that the authorities are doing this ” everyone [leur] It is possible to identify the deceased..
Usually, Russian officials confine themselves to denying any involvement of Russian soldiers in war crimes, and accuse Ukraine of orchestrating the scene. But a spokesman for the Russian presidency, Dmitry Peskov, admitted on Wednesday that they were “of course terrible pictures”. In the world of ‘fakes’ we live in, we have to make sure this video is authentic.But he added.
sequel after announcement
• Successive international condemnations
The United Nations Human Rights Mission in Ukraine said “terrifled” by this video. She also indicated a second video presentation “The mutilated bodies, apparently of Ukrainian prisoners of war” declared: Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident. » So he calls for “These incidents are properly investigated and held accountable.”.
The European Union will ask Statements of all war crimes perpetrators and accomplices In Ukraine, a spokeswoman for the head of European diplomacy said Wednesday, after the broadcast of a video that appears to show, according to Kiev, a Russian soldier beheading a Ukrainian prisoner with a knife.
• War crimes charges since the beginning of the conflict
Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Kiev and Moscow have accused each other of prisoner abuse that amounts to war crimes.
At the beginning of March, a video showing the alleged execution of a Ukrainian prisoner of war by Russian soldiers caused shock in Ukraine.
sequel after announcement
They were children and were killed in Bucha: we traced their martyrdom
In November, the Kremlin was outraged by two videos showing the alleged execution of dozens of Russian soldiers after they surrendered to Ukrainian forces.
In late March, the United Nations accused Ukrainian and Russian forces of carrying out summary executions of prisoners of war.
Russia also denies, despite corroborating evidence, summary executions of civilians, notably in Bucha, near Kiev, a year ago.
