Very disturbing videos are circulating on social networks showing an alleged member of the Wagner group beheading a Ukrainian soldier.
Last week, two videos appeared on social networks allegedly see decapitated Ukrainian soldiers. The footage appears to show two different events – one was recorded recently, while the other, based on the amount of grass, looks like it was taken earlier, CNN writes.
The first clip, published on April 8 on a pro-Russian social media channel, allegedly recorded by Russian mercenaries from the Wagner groupand commands the decapitated bodies of two Ukrainian soldiers lying on the ground next to a destroyed military vehicle. The soldier’s voice can be heard on the recording, which has been altered to prevent identification.
“An armored vehicle is a fucking mine,” says a Russian-speaking voice. Apparently speaking of corpses on the ground, the voice continues, laughing: “They killed them. Someone approached them. They approached them and cut off their heads.” According to the video, it looks like they are the hands of the fallen soldiers were also cut off. Russian social media profiles state that it is shot taken near Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, which has been the scene of the fiercest battles in the war for several months and in which Wagner’s fighters are actively participating. The location of the video has not been independently verified.
*The recordings exist on the Internet, but due to the very disturbing content, we will not publish them*
Another video shows the beheading of a soldier
The second video, which was posted on Twitter and is very blurry, looks like it was taken during the summer due to the amount of grass on the ground, CNN writes. Apparently you can see how a Russian fighter uses a knife to decapitate a Ukrainian soldier. The voice at the beginning of the video suggests that it is the victim may have been alive when the attack began to decapitate her.
Shortly after the tapes emerged, Andriy Yermak, a top adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, tweeted: “They will answer for everything. On Monday, the Institute for the Study of War (ISV) said that Wagner ‘allegedly continues to commit war crimes by beheading Ukrainian soldiers in Bakhmut’referring to a photo shared on pro-Russian social media showing what appeared to be a head on a spike. ISV claims that this case also involves a Ukrainian soldier.
ISV reported similar incidents in Popasna, Luhansk region, where Wagner’s troops also operated earlier in the war. Some pro-Russian social media channels have suggested that Ukrainian forces were responsible for the beheadings in an attempt to conceal identification. Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin made a similar claim in January after his fighters announced they had found bodies with severed hands and heads near Bahmut.
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(WORLD)