War in Ukraine: What we know about the video showing the alleged beheading of a Ukrainian soldier

Europe 1 with AFP 16:45 p.m., April 12, 2023

An unbearable new video showing the beheading of an alleged Ukrainian prisoner of war angered Ukraine on Wednesday, with President Volodymyr Zelensky denouncing a new exaction by Russian "monsters". AFP was not immediately able to verify the authenticity of the video, or where and when it may have been filmed. Ukrainian authorities said they were trying to identify the victim.

The UN mission in Kiev said it was "horrified" by the footage demanding an investigation while the Kremlin called for verification of the "authenticity" of the video, which usually rejects accusations of crimes against its military. The UN representation also mentions a second video showing the mutilated bodies of Ukrainian prisoners. "How easily these monsters kill. This video of the execution of a Ukrainian prisoner of war, the world must see. This is a video of Russia as it is," President Zelensky said in a video address posted on Instagram.

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A post shared by Володимир Зеленський (@zelenskiy_official)

'Worse than Islamic State'

"It was (already) like that in Boutcha. Thousands of times," he continued, referring to the Kiev suburb that has become a symbol of atrocities attributed to the Russian military. The EU will hold "accountable all perpetrators and accomplices of war crimes" in Ukraine, a spokeswoman for the EU's foreign policy chief said on Wednesday, after a video appeared to show a Russian soldier beheading a Ukrainian prisoner with a knife.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Russia was "worse than the Islamic State", a jihadist organization that filmed the executions of its hostages, including by beheading. "Russian terrorists must be driven out of Ukraine and the UN and held accountable for their crimes," he said on Twitter. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has opened an investigation into this "war crime". "We will find these monsters (...) They will be punished," SBU chief Vasyl Maliouk said in a statement.

A horrific video of Russian troops decapitating a Ukrainian prisoner of war is circulating online. It's absurd that Russia, which is worse than ISIS, is presiding over the UNSC. Russian terrorists must be kicked out of Ukraine and the UN and be held accountable for their crimes.

— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) April 12, 2023

Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Maliar said on Telegram that the authorities are doing "everything possible to identify the deceased." On the Russian side, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov also described the images as "horrific", but questioned their veracity. "In the world of 'fakes' in which we live, we must ensure the authenticity of this video," he added.

"This is not an isolated accident"

Usually, Russian officials deny any involvement of Russian soldiers in war crimes, and accuse Ukraine of orchestrating staged crimes. The human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine said it was "horrified" by the images, which also evoked a second video showing "mutilated bodies of apparent Ukrainian prisoners of war".

"Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident," the mission said in a statement demanding that the cases be investigated and the perpetrators brought to justice. The video, one minute and forty seconds of images, has been circulating since Tuesday. On it, a man in camouflage, his face masked, slices the neck of another man in uniform struggling on the ground screaming "it hurts".

After a few seconds, the screams stop and a man is heard behind the camera inciting the executioner in Russian to "cut off the head" of the victim. The latter finishes his beheading with a knife, and shows the severed head to the camera. "Fuck it in the bag and send it to the commander," said a voice in Russian. The camera also shows the victim's vest crossed out with the Ukrainian trident and a skull.

Mutual accusations

Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Kiev and Moscow have accused each other of mistreating prisoners amounting to war crimes. In early March, a video showing the alleged execution of a Ukrainian prisoner of war by Russian soldiers caused a shock in Ukraine. In November, the Kremlin was outraged by two videos appearing to show the alleged execution of a dozen Russian servicemen by bullets after surrendering to Ukrainian forces.

In late March, the UN accused Ukrainian and Russian forces of committing summary executions of prisoners of war. Russia also denies, despite corroborating evidence, the summary executions of civilians, particularly in Butcha, near Kiev, a year ago.