Zelensky labels Russian troops “beasts” after a video appears to show a Ukrainian soldier being beheaded with a knife.
Ukrainian officials have condemned Russian troops after a video circulating on social media appeared to show the beheading of a Ukrainian prisoner with a knife.
Al Jazeera could not independently verify the authenticity of the video, which quickly spread online.
The footage shows a man in uniform decapitating a man wearing the yellow armband used by Ukrainian soldiers.
The video is heavily blurred and includes a voice at the beginning, suggesting the victim may have been alive when the attack began.
The Kremlin described the video as “appalling” and said its authenticity should be verified. Moscow has historically denied that its troops committed atrocities during the conflict.
“There is something no one in the world can ignore: how easily these beasts kill,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“We are not going to forget anything. We are not going to forgive the killers either. There will be legal accountability for everything. The defeat of terror is necessary,” he added.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba described the video as “horrific”.
“It is absurd that Russia, which is worse than ISIS, presides over the UN Security Council,” he wrote on Twitter, referring to the United Nations Security Council, where Russia assumed the rotating presidency this month. “Russian terrorists must be kicked out of Ukraine and the UN and held accountable for their crimes.”
ISIS (ISIL) was notorious for releasing videos of detainee beheadings as they controlled parts of Iraq and Syria from 2014-2017.
Ukraine’s Internal Security Service (SBU) said it has launched an investigation into the suspected war crime.
“Yesterday a video appeared on the Internet showing how the Russian occupiers display their bestial nature – cruelly torturing a Ukrainian prisoner and cutting off his head,” the SBU bureau wrote on Telegram.
The European Union also promised to hold war criminals accountable.
“We have no more information about the veracity of the video. That said, if confirmed, this is yet another brutal reminder of the inhumane nature of Russian aggression,” said EU spokeswoman Nabila Massrali.
“The EU reiterates its determination to hold accountable all perpetrators and accomplices of war crimes committed in connection with the Russian war,” she said.
The images come days after a separate video emerged on pro-Russian social media channels that appeared to show the bodies of two decapitated Ukrainian soldiers lying next to a wrecked military vehicle.
It is believed to have been filmed by members of the Wagner Group, a Russian mercenary organization. The hands of the deceased Ukrainian soldiers appear to have been severed. Al Jazeera was unable to verify the authenticity of the video.