‘Will not forgive murderers,’ Zelensky after beheading video of captives emerges

Following the emergence of a new video, Zelensky said in an address posted to social media that “the world must see” what he called an “execution of a Ukrainian captive”.

“There is something that no one in the world can ignore: how easily these beasts kill,” a grim-looking Ukrainian leader said.

“We won’t forget anything, nor will we forgive murderers,” he added.

Condemning the incident, Kyiv said Russia is “worse than ISIS”, a reference to the Islamic State group.

The one minute forty second video shows a masked man in camouflage decapitating another man in uniform. The attacker was seen being encouraged by other Russian soldiers around him. A voice was heard in the background saying that the head should be sent “to the commander”.

The victim’s vest bearing the Ukrainian trident and a skull can also be seen in the footage.

The emergence of the footage prompted international outrage. The European Union pledged to hold war criminals to account, while a UN mission in Ukraine said it was “appalled”.

The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine also pointed to another video that is spreading online, saying it “shows mutilated bodies of apparent Ukrainian POWs.”

“The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine is appalled by particularly gruesome videos posted on social media,” it said in a statement.

“One of the videos shows a brutal execution of a man who appears to be a Ukrainian prisoner of war, while the other one shows mutilated bodies of apparent Ukrainian POWs.”

Moscow and Kyiv have repeatedly accused each other of killing prisoners of war since Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine more than a year ago.

Several videos alleging to show POW killings have made the rounds on the internet over the past year.