Russian murder video
Former Wagner mercenary identified perpetrators
04/13/2023 12:44 am
A vile video has surfaced on Russian channels. It shows a man in uniform cutting off the head of a Ukrainian prisoner with a knife while others cheer him on. It is unclear when and where the scene is said to have taken place. A former Wagner mercenary is certain that he knows the perpetrator.
In the video, which is supposed to show the beheading of a Ukrainian prisoner of war and causes international horror, a Russian ex-mercenary identified former comrades as the perpetrators, according to civil rights activists. The video material was sent to Andrei Medvedev, who fled to Norway months ago and is currently being held in Sweden, said the founder of the Russian civil rights organization Gulagu.net, Vladimir Ossechkin, in an interview.
“He listened to it carefully and looked at it several times, and he clearly recognizes his former colleagues there, fighters of the Wagner mercenary unit,” Ossetchkin explained in the post, which is published on the YouTube channel of the Russian opposition figure Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who lives abroad has been published. Medvedev, who himself used to fight for the notorious Russian mercenary group, identified the men based on “characteristic call signs and their way of speaking,” the civil rights activist continued.
Ossechkin’s organization is actually primarily known for its work against violence in Russian prison camps. However, she also looked after ex-mercenary Medvedev when he was arrested in Norway in January under the local immigration law after fleeing. Medvedev was later released in Norway – but a few weeks later he was imprisoned in neighboring Sweden for illegal entry.
The approximately one and a half minute video first appeared from Russian Telegram channels. It shows one man in uniform being beheaded by another. The perpetrator wears a white marking on his clothing that is typical for Russian soldiers. However, the authenticity of the video and the time it was recorded have not yet been independently verified. Due to green leaves on the trees, it stands to reason that the recordings are from last year.
Selenskyj asks for a minute’s silence
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for a minute’s silence at an event in response to the alleged war crimes. “I now ask you to commemorate the Ukrainian soldier with a minute’s silence, whose death we all witnessed yesterday,” Zelenskyy, who joined the video, said at a roundtable on Ukraine during the spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
He also remembered the other victims of the Russian war of aggression. Then Selenskyj paused briefly. “Ukraine is going through a storm of emotions right now,” the Ukrainian President said. The Russian army is trying to make this level of violence and atrocities routine throughout Ukraine and is proud of it. “The long history of Russian impunity must finally end,” Zelenskyy continued. Every day in Ukraine “men, women, adults and adults” would die at the hands of Russia.