Ukraine said on Tuesday it had identified a soldier filmed being shot dead in a video that circulated widely on social media, sparking outrage and spurring officials to demand a probe.
The footage shows what appears to be a captured Ukrainian fighter standing in a shallow trench, smoking, and being shot after saying “Glory to Ukraine.”
“According to preliminary data, the deceased is a serviceman of the 30th separate mechanized brigade — Tymofiy Mykolayovych Shadura,” the Ukrainian military said on Telegram.
The soldier had been missing since Feb. 3 amid fighting near the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, the statement said.
“The final confirmation of his identity can be established after the body is returned,” it added.
It was impossible to independently verify where or when the footage was filmed or whether it showed — as Ukrainian officials and social media users suggested — a Ukrainian prisoner of war.
In an address to the nation on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the video showed Russian forces “brutally killing” a Ukrainian serviceman.
“We will find the murderers,” he vowed.
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also called for the International Criminal Court to probe the footage.
Moscow and Kyiv have on several occasions accused each other of killing prisoners in the year since Russia invaded Ukraine.
AFP contributed reporting.
