Russian troops behead Ukrainian soldier in Donetsk region

Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin reports.

According to him, police cannot currently name the Ukrainian serviceman, as procedures are still underway to finally confirm his identity.

The Prosecutor General's Office has also identified Russian commanders potentially responsible for the beheading of the Ukrainian defender. A set of measures is currently being taken to verify this information.

"This fact is yet another confirmation that complete disregard for international law and universal morality is the state policy of the terrorist country Russia. Every world leader who shakes hands with Putin must realize that he is shaking hands with a person who tolerates barbaric murders," Kostin added.

On June 18, the Prosecutor General's Office reported the fact of the beheading of a Ukrainian soldier.

"We have received information that leaders of a Russian occupation forces unit in the Volnovakha district of Donetsk region ordered not to take Ukrainian servicemen prisoner, but to kill them with inhuman cruelty - by beheading. The beheading of a Ukrainian defender was confirmed in the Donetsk region," stated Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin.

It is noted that during aerial reconnaissance at one of the combat positions in Donetsk region, the Ukrainian military discovered a damaged armored vehicle of the Defense Forces, with the head of a Ukrainian soldier found severed.

"This is a terrible barbarism that has no place in the 21st century. This is another proof that the war crimes committed by the Russian forces are not isolated incidents, but a planned strategy of the Russian regime. These criminal orders were given at the level of battalion and company leadership of the occupation troops," emphasized Kostin.

Under the procedural supervision of the Donetsk Regional Prosecutor’s Office, a pre-trial investigation has been initiated into the violation of the laws and customs of war combined with premeditated murder (Part 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

Later, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, commented on the reports of the brutal execution of a Ukrainian prisoner of war in the Donetsk region.

"This is a deliberate and purposeful policy of the aggressor. Such atrocities are happening all the time—inhumane treatment of prisoners, executions for intimidation. This is not just a violation of the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War; it is an attempt to break the entire architecture of the world order,” Lubinets wrote.

He is convinced that by such actions, Russia is testing the world's resolve, seeing how far it will be allowed to go in its bloodthirstiness. He called on partners to take decisive action to ensure that Russia is punished.

• On April 7, a video was posted online showing Russian soldiers shooting three captured Ukrainian servicemen. Ukraine’s National Police has launched an investigation.