Ukraine's prosecutors and security service to investigate beheading of Ukrainian soldier in Russia's Belgorod Oblast
Law enforcement officers have launched an investigation concerning the circulation of a video of the beheading of a Ukrainian soldier.
Source: press service of the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine
Quote: "A pre-trial investigation has been launched under the procedural guidance of the Office of the Prosecutor General into a violation of the laws and customs of war, combined with premeditated murder."
Details: The video, which was posted on social media on 16 August, shows representatives of the Russian Armed Forces displaying the head of an alleged Ukrainian soldier on a stake. According to the DeepState analysis project, the crime scene is the Kolotilovka checkpoint in Russia's Belgorod Oblast.
As part of the investigation, law enforcement officers are reported to be conducting urgent investigative actions to verify this information and the circumstances surrounding it.
The Prosecutor General’s Office notes that the dissemination of such a video by Russian representatives is further confirmation of their complete disregard for the norms and principles of international humanitarian law.
The pre-trial investigation is reportedly being carried out by investigators from the Main Investigation Department of the Security Service of Ukraine.
Background:
- Ukrainska Pravda has audio intercepts from sources in the Ukrainian Armed Forces involved in the operation near Kolotilovka. The audio intercepts indicate that a Russian soldier was ordered to cut off the heads of four dead Ukrainian soldiers.
- Dmytro Lubinets, Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) Commissioner for Human Rights, said he has contacted the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross concerning the video of yet another violation of international humanitarian law by Russia.
- Lubinets also stressed that the Russians use videos like this one to intimidate and demoralise Ukrainians.
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