War on Ukraine: horror at beheading video

In Ukraine, there is horror over a video that is said to show the beheading of a Ukrainian soldier by the Russian military. It is still unclear whether the video is real. President Selenskyj does not see this as an isolated case.

“I can’t watch it,” says Anna Kyjanko from Kiev. But she, too, has heard about the horrifying video that is shocking people in Ukraine. It shows a man in a green uniform, apparently a soldier in the Ukrainian army. He lies on the ground, screams, wriggles – fights for his life.

On it kneels a man with white bracelets like those worn by soldiers of the Russian army and cuts off his victim’s head with a knife. “Pack it up and send it to the commander,” sounds a voice in the background. Then the man holds the severed head up to the camera.

According to the Ukrainian secret service SBU, investigations have been initiated. Judging by the soil and leaves in the video, it could have been taken in summer.

Zelenskyj: “A video of Russia as it is”

Whether it is real and who it shows has not yet been independently verified. According to the Ukrainian government, attempts are being made to identify the dead man. At noon, the Ukrainian President will speak. The world must see how carelessly “these beasts kill,” says Volodymyr Zelenskyj: “This is a video of Russia, how it is, what kind of creatures they are. There are no people for them.”

Russia is trying to make that the new norm, Zelensky said. Such a habit of destroying life is not an accident, not an isolated case.

More videos and photos are circulating

In fact, other videos and images show decapitated corpses in the war in Ukraine. A second video circulating on social media is said to show the mutilated bodies of two Ukrainian soldiers – also without their heads.

Photos are also circulating in Russian Telegram channels. One shows a decomposed, severed head impaled on a fence. The photo is said to have been taken at Bachmut.

A show of force?

Maria Klymyk works at the human rights organization Zmina. You see many such recordings in Telegram channels, she says in an interview with the ARD: “For them it’s a kind of show of force. Well, we’ve caught the elusive Ukrainian military. And look at how we’re carrying out the denazification.” In this way, the Russian military probably wants to intimidate the Ukrainian one and show their own that they can win such trophies, according to Klymyk.

Kremlin spokesman calls video ‘terrible’

The human rights activist has no evidence that Ukrainian soldiers have committed such crimes. At the moment, these are rumors, says Klymyk.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also described the published video as “terrible”. However, its authenticity still has to be verified, one lives in a world of fakes.