Zelensky blasts Russian ‘beasts’ over beheading
Published on: Thursday, April 13, 2023
By: AFP
The video, which lasts around one minute 40 seconds, shows a masked man in camouflage decapitating another man in uniform.
KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday denounced Russian “beasts” after a video surfaced on social media purporting to show the decapitation of a Ukrainian prisoner of war.“There is something that no one in the world can ignore: how easily these beasts kill,” Zelensky said in a video address released on social media.
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“We won’t forget anything, nor will we forgive murderers,” he added, vowing to bring justice to his war-torn nation.
“This video... The execution of a Ukrainian captive... The world must see it,” Zelensky added in the video address.
AFP was unable to independently verify the footage.
The video, which lasts around one minute 40 seconds, shows a masked man in camouflage decapitating another man in uniform.
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Other voices are heard encouraging the attacker in Russian.
After the man is decapitated, a voice is heard saying that the head should be sent “to the commander”.
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The victim’s vest bearing the Ukrainian trident can also be seen in the footage.
Moscow and Kyiv have repeatedly accused each other of killing prisoners of war since Russia invaded Ukraine more than a year ago, and several videos alleging to show POW killings have made the rounds on the internet.
The Kremlin said the authenticity of the “horrible” images showing an alleged decapitation of a Ukrainian prisoner of war has to be verified.
“First of all, the authenticity of this horrible footage needs to be verified,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, adding that “we live in a world of fakes.”
A UN mission in Ukraine said it was “appalled” by “gruesome” videos including footage showing an alleged decapitation of a Ukrainian prisoner of war.
“The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine is appalled by particularly gruesome videos posted on social media,” it said in a statement. “One of the videos shows a brutal execution of a man who appears to be a Ukrainian prisoner of war, while the other one shows mutilated bodies of apparent Ukrainian POWs.”
The EU ledged to hold war criminals to account after footage spread online allegedly showing the beheading of a Ukrainian prisoner of war by Russian forces.
“We don’t have more information on the veracity of the video. Having said that, if confirmed, this is yet another brutal reminder about the inhumane nature of the Russian aggression,” EU spokeswoman Nabila Massrali said.
“The EU reiterates its firm commitment to holding to account all perpetrators and accomplices of war crimes committed in connection with Russia’s war,” she said.
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