Ukraine’s outrage grows after video shows beheading of soldier

Ukraine launched an investigation on Wednesday into a gruesome video that allegedly showed the beheading of a Ukrainian soldier. The video, which had gone viral on social media, drew outrage from officials in Kyiv, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Ukraine on Wednesday initiated a probe into a gruesome video that allegedly showed the beheading of a Ukrainian soldier. The act is the latest accusation of atrocities said to have been committed by Russia, since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

The video, which had gone viral on social media, drew outrage from officials in Kyiv, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as well as international organisations. The Kremlin called the footage “horrible” but said it needed to be verified, news agency Associated Press reported.

The video appeared to show a man in green fatigues wearing a yellow armband, typically donned by Ukrainian fighters. His screams were heard before another man in camouflage uses a knife to decapitate him.A third man, shown in the video, held up a flak jacket apparently belonging to the man being beheaded. All three men speak Russian.

According to the United Nations and rights groups, Russians have committed widespread abuses and alleged war crimes since their forces invaded Ukraine in Feb 2022. Ukraine has repeatedly accused Russia of targeting apartment buildings and other civilian structures and equipment in its strikes, and images of hundreds of dead civilians in the streets and in mass graves in Bucha after Russian forces withdrew from the city have horrified the world.