Ukraine’s Zelenskyy slams Russian ‘beasts’ after alleged POW beheading video emerges online

Kyiv: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday called out Russian “beasts” after a barbaric video emerged on social media allegedly showing the decapitation of a Ukrainian prisoner of war.

“There is something that no one in the world can ignore: how easily these beasts kill…we won’t forgive anything, nor will we forgive murderers,” Zelenskyy said in a video message shortly after the video surfaced.

“There will be legal responsibility for everything. The defeat of terror is necessary,” he underscored looking visibly upset in his video message.

Ukraine also compared Russia to the notorious Islamic State and called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the killing after the video emerged showing apparent Russian soldiers in uniform filming themselves beheading a Ukrainian captive with a knife. The man being beheaded sported a yellow arm band used by Ukrainian soldiers.

The Kremlin, meanwhile, has refuted the charge saying the ‘horrible’ Ukraine beheading video has to be “verified first” and that its authenticity was doubtful. “The authenticity of this horrible footage needs to be verified,” Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesperson said.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba took to Twitter to condemn the crime: “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,” he said, referring to the UN Security Council, where Russia took up the rotating presidency earlier this month.

“Russian terrorists must be kicked out of Ukraine and the UN and be held accountable for their crimes,” Kuleba wrote.

After the gory footage showing the beheading of a Ukrainian prisoner of war by Russian forces, rapidly circulated online, the European Union too pledged to hold war criminals to account and punish them for atrocities carried out on prisoners of war.

In an advisory, Ukraine urged people online not to name the soldier publicly until his identity had been officially established by law enforcement agencies. The Ukrainian government also asked people to stop sharing the video online.

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