The pixelated clip, just 12 seconds long, appears to show the execution of a Ukrainian prisoner of war. As it went viral on Monday as it spread across social media, it has ignited fierce anger in Ukraine, where officials and other public figures have said it shows the brutality of invading Russian forces and major violations of Geneva. reinforces the need for war crimes investigations. conference.
The Washington Post has not independently verified the video. Who created and posted it – when, where and under what circumstances – is not clear. The footage was shared widely on Monday among pro-Kremlin Telegram accounts, including one linked to Task Force Rusich, a unit fighting alongside the mercenary group Wagner in Ukraine, which has been designated by the US Treasury as a “neo- Nazi paramilitary group”.
In a video posted to his Telegram account late Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked Ukrainians to repeat the man’s patriotic last words: “Slavy ukreni,” which means “Glory to Ukraine.”
“I want us all together, in unity, to answer his words: ‘Glory to the hero! Glory to the heroes! Glory to Ukraine!'” Zelensky said. “We will find the murderers.”
“It’s another thing to kill a prisoner of war [Russian] War crime,” Andrey Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, tweeted the same day.
On Tuesday, a Ukrainian military unit said they had identified the man killed as one of their own: Timofey Shadura, 40, who was believed to have been captured by Russian forces near Vuhlader in Donetsk last month. was taken.
A woman identified as Shadura’s sister told the BBC that her brother appeared in the video as the man.
“My brother would definitely be able to face the Russians like this,” the woman said, the BBC reported.
So far, the Russian authorities have not given an official response. But in a follow-up post on Telegram on Tuesday, the paramilitary group Rusich mocked Russians criticizing the video, saying it was “normal” and that the Russian military was “doing what it should.”
“To defeat the enemy – you need to kill the enemy!” the group wrote.
Russia, as well as Ukraine, are among nearly 200 countries that are parties to the Third Geneva Convention, which outlines the rights of prisoners of war. The Convention calls for “humane” treatment of prisoners captured during conflict. Their execution is expressly prohibited.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter that the video was further proof that the war was “genocide” and called on the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to launch an investigation. “Criminals must face justice,” wrote Kuleba.
Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andrey Kostin wrote on Telegram that the Security Service of Ukraine would also investigate the murder as a criminal matter under domestic laws.
Several war crime allegations have been filed since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 last year. Last month, Kostin said Ukraine has recorded more than 65,000 war crimes committed by Russian forces since the conflict began.
Ukrainian forces have also been accused of violating the Geneva Conventions, including publishing footage of prisoners of war at the start of the conflict.
Last year, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishina promised to launch an investigation into footage that appeared to show the country’s military executing Russian soldiers who had surrendered.