Ukraine’s Security Service confirms identity of soldier executed for saying "Glory to Ukraine!"

The Security Service of Ukraine reported the information.

The body of the deceased was returned home in February 2023. 

The SBU noted that a forensic portrait examination was conducted, as well as a set of other investigative actions, which included communication with the family and comrades-in-arms of the deceased and the processing of photo and video materials. 

"This is a true Hero who, even when facing death, demonstrated to the whole world what Ukrainian character and invincibility are. Such defenders are defending our land today, which means that the enemy will definitely be defeated. Because Ukraine's Great Victory is made up of the heroic deeds of people like Oleksandr Matsievskyi. Glory to the hero! Glory to the heroes! Glory to Ukraine!" said SBU Head Vasyl Malyuk.

The SBU head emphasized that the service is currently working to identify the Russian soldiers who shot the Ukrainian defender.

The SBU reported that Oleksandr Matsievskyi was called up for military service in March 2022. Since the end of December, he had been missing near the village of Krasna Hora in the Donetsk region.

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On March 6, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded to the execution of a Ukrainian prisoner of war by Russian soldiers for saying "Glory to Ukraine!"

“Glory to the hero! Glory to the heroes! Glory to Ukraine!” Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted this message on his Telegram channel in a response to the video showing an unarmed Ukrainian soldier being shot and killed by Russian troops after saying "Glory to Ukraine".

The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security reported the information.

The head of the Office of the Ukrainian President, Andriy Yermak, responded to the video and noted that it was "another example of the national worthlessness" of Russian soldiers.

"War crimes are cultivated in Russia. And they are whitewashed by propaganda and myths about "Nazis." The murder of a prisoner of war is another example of this. It is also an example of their national worthlessness and weakness. There will be retribution for every such war crime. No one will be able to hide from it," he writes.

The Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, also responded to the video.

"The shooting of a captured Ukrainian soldier is a violation of the Geneva Conventions. This is a manifestation of lowliness and meanness," he wrote.

According to him, Russia will be held accountable for its crime. He has now passed the video to international partners and fellow ombudsmen from around the world as evidence of another Russian war crime.

"It is very painful to watch what the Russian occupiers are doing to our people. The goal of Ukraine, as well as the entire democratic world, is to bring the Russian Federation to justice," emphasized Lubinets.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense also responded to the crime committed by the Russian forces.

Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin, in turn, announced the launch of an investigation into the shooting of an unarmed man. As a result, criminal proceedings have been opened under Article 438, Part 2 of the Criminal Code – violation of the laws and customs of war.

"Even war has laws. There are norms of international law that the criminal Russian regime systematically disregards. But sooner or later, the crime will be punished. All those involved will be held accountable before the law," emphasized Kostin.

Warning: Video contains violence!

•  On July 29, Russian troops shelled the Olenivka prison, where Ukrainian prisoners were being held, with artillery. The shelling killed about 40 people and wounded 130 others.