The horrors of war: reactions of senior officials to images of Ukrainian soldier's beheading published online
A new war crime has outraged public opinion in Ukraine and around the world. The ombudsman is addressing the United Nations and the Red Cross after images of the beheading of a serviceman were published on the internet. Russian soldiers are worse than ISIS, Kiev's foreign minister reacted, while Volodimir Zelenski called on the international community to react. Moscow, on the other hand, wants proof that these barbaric actions were committed by its soldiers.
Two videos posted on Russian social media are horrifying public opinion around the world. The images, of unspeakable violence, depict the execution of Ukrainian soldiers. It is not clear when the footage was filmed or whether it is genuine, but those who posted the images say it is an execution of two Ukrainian soldiers. The image shows the mutilated bodies, apparently of prisoners of war. A similar, more recent video appears to show Russian soldiers filming themselves as one of them allegedly beheads a man wearing the yellow armband used by Ukrainian soldiers. The source of the video is still unclear, but it has sparked a furious reaction. One of the videos was later deleted. The Ukrainian president called on the international community to react.
"How easily they kill, these monsters. This video of the execution of a Ukrainian prisoner of war must be seen by the world. It is a video of Russia as it is. This is not an accident. This is not an episode. It was such a case earlier. It was like this in Bucea. Thousands of times. Everyone must act. Every leader," said President Volodimir Zelenski.
The UN human rights mission, the UN and the EU say they are appalled by the barbaric acts committed by the Russian military, who beheaded Ukrainian soldiers fighting to defend their country. The two international organisations call for those responsible to be held immediately accountable.
"The killing of prisoners of war is a very serious violation of the Geneva Convention and demonstrates once again Russia's complete disregard for international law and international humanitarian law in particular," said Nabila Massrali, spokesperson for the head of European diplomacy.
In response, the Kremlin spokesperson says the beheading video is horrific, but believes the authenticity of the recording needs confirmation.
"The images are terrible. But first we need to verify the authenticity, to verify whether this happened or not. And if it happened, then - where and who did it," Dmitry Peskov said.
The Ukrainian Security Service has launched an investigation to identify the perpetrators of the executions shown in the footage.
