Horror as severed head is found placed on a war-damaged Ukrainian armoured vehicle as Kyiv accuses Putin’s troops of decapitating soldier in act of ‘dreadful barbarism’
- WARNING: CONTAINS GRAPHIC CONTENT
Kiev has accused Vladimir Putin’s forces of beheading a Ukrainian soldier after a severed head was found on a damaged armored vehicle.
The gruesome discovery was made in the eastern Donetsk region during aerial reconnaissance, Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said.
He shared a disturbing photo from the scene, which appears to show the body part on the hood of a Kozak-2, a Ukrainian armored vehicle used for troop transport.
The Ukrainian army yesterday claimed to have received information that Russian soldiers in the frontline area had been ordered not to take prisoners but to behead them instead.
Ukraine has launched an investigation into what Kostin called “new horrific evidence” of Russian war crimes.terrible barbarism that has no place in the 21st century.’
A chilling photo shared by Ukrainian Attorney General Andriy Kostin claims to show the severed head of a Ukrainian soldier on the hood of a Kozak-2 armored vehicle
File image shows Russian troops in the occupied Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine
“This is further confirmation that the aggressor’s war crimes are not isolated cases, but rather part of the Russian regime’s planned policy,” he said.
‘These criminal orders were issued by the battalion and company commanders of the occupying forces.
“We will not let these crimes go unpunished. I urge the entire civilized world to isolate and punish the terrorist country.”
He went on to say that the military had “received information that Russian commanders have been ordered not to capture Ukrainian soldiers, but to kill them with inhuman cruelty – by beheading.”
Such actions constitute a clear violation of the Geneva Convention relating to the Treatment of Prisoners of War and the Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflict, the Attorney General added.
The alleged execution would not be the first time that Russian forces have executed Ukrainian prisoners of war.
Several prisoner execution videos shared on social media have shocked the world since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Kostin (photo) labeled it an example of ‘terrible barbarity that has no place in the 21st century’
Debris and Z graffiti are seen in a destroyed Ukrainian village in Donetsk, Ukraine
In March last year, a chilling video shared on Telegram showed a man taking a last drag on a cigarette next to a shallow grave before being executed by Russian forces.
The victim, later named Ukrainian fighter Oleksandr Matsievskyi, says “Glory to Ukraine” to his captors before being shot dead.
As of April 9, the Attorney General’s Office had reported on 27 criminal cases over the execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war.
Criminal cases have been opened over the alleged killing of 54 Ukrainian fighters by Russian forces.
The United Nations said last year it was “deeply concerned” by what it described as summary executions of prisoners of war carried out by Russian forces on the battlefield.
A report published in March 2023 by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine documented the executions of fifteen Ukrainian prisoners of war by Russian forces and the Wagner Group during the first year of the large-scale invasion.