New videos surface of Russian soldiers beheading Ukrainian POWs
The Kremlin spokesperson said that the authenticity of the "horrible" images needs to be verified
A new video circulating on social media appears to show Russian soldiers beheading a Ukrainian prisoner of war, and is drawing outcry from Ukrainian leaders and the international community.
The video, which was found on a Russian Telegram channel, appears to show a Russian fighter cutting off the head of a Ukrainian soldier with a knife. A voice heard at the beginning of the video indicates that the victim may have been alive when the alleged execution started. Another voice speaking in Russian off-camera appears to encourage the attacker.
At the end of the minute-and-a-half video, the voice is heard instructing the soldier to display the severed head on camera and place it in a bag to “send it to the commander.”
The authenticity of the video has not been verified; experts who have viewed it say that it appears to have been filmed during the summer months, due to the amount of foliage seen in the video.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke out on Wednesday, denouncing the Russian "beasts."
"There is something that no one in the world can ignore: how easily these beasts kill," Zelensky said in a video on social media. "We won't forget anything, nor will we forgive murderers. This video... The execution of a Ukrainian captive... The world must see it," Zelensky added.
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In response, the Kremlin said that the authenticity of the "horrible" images needs to be verified, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov telling reporters "we live in a world of fakes."
The EU came out vowing to hold war criminals to account, and the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said in a statement that it was "appalled" by the "gruesome" videos.
Ukraine's Security Service said it had launched an official investigation into the alleged execution.
A separate video that surfaced on social media shows two decapitated Ukrainian soldiers, their hands also appearing to have been cut off, lying next to the destroyed remains of a tank.
Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of killing prisoners of war since Russia invaded Ukraine over a year ago, and several videos alleging to show POW killings have appeared on the internet.