President Volodymyr Zelensky commented on the alleged beheading of a Ukrainian prisoner of war purportedly shown in a video shared online, saying that every international leader "must react."
"This is a video of Russia as it is… of Russia trying to make that the new norm, such a habit of destroying life. This is not an (isolated) accident or episode. This has happened earlier. This has happened in Bucha. (This has happened) a thousand times," Zelensky said on April 12.
"Everyone must react. Every leader. Don't expect it to be forgotten as time passes. We are not going to forget anything, and neither are we going to forgive the murderers. There will be legal responsibility for everything," Ukraine's president added. "The main goal is to win. The defeat of the occupiers, sentences for murderers, a tribunal for the evil state."
Late on April 11, a video was posted on social media, which appeared to show a Russian fighter cutting off the head of a Ukrainian soldier with a knife.
A voice heard at the beginning of the video indicates that the victim might have still been alive when the alleged execution started.
Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) said it had launched an official investigation into the alleged execution.
"We will find these monsters. If necessary, we will get them wherever they are: from under the ground or from another world. But they will definitely be punished for what they have done," said SBU Head Vasyl Maliuk.
The video looks to have been filmed in the summer, judging from the amount of foliage visible on the ground.
According to CNN, another video allegedly showing two beheaded Ukrainian servicemen was shared online on April 8. It was posted on a pro-Russian social media channel and purportedly filmed by Russia's state-backed private mercenaries from Wagner Group.
Asami Terajima
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