April 12, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

The United Nations says it is “appalled by particularly gruesome videos posted on social media” -- one of which purports to show the execution of a captured Ukrainian solider, and a second which purports to show the mutilated bodies of two Ukrainian soldiers lying on the ground.

In a short statement, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, part of the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), says the apparent executions are “not an isolated incident.”

“In recent reports the Mission documented a number of serious violations of international humanitarian law, including those committed against prisoners of war. The latest incidents must also be properly investigated, and the perpetrators must be held accountable,” the statement said.

On March 24, the UN said it has documented dozens of cases of summary executions of prisoners of war (POWs) carried out by both Russian and Ukrainian forces since February 2022, but admits it is far harder to get information from Russia, or territories under Russian control, than it is from Ukrainian authorities.

The OHCHR said it has documented the summary execution of 15 Ukrainian POWs by Russian forces, in addition to the use of Ukrainian POWs as human shields, the death of two wounded POWs due to lack of medical care, as well as torture. 

On the other side, the report says it has documented -- through open-source information, in situ visits and witness interviews -- the summary execution of at least 25 Russian POWs being held by Ukrainian forces. 

Video purporting to show the beheading of a Ukrainian soldier is “terrible,” but “first of all, we need to verify the authenticity” of it, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

“Of course, these are terrible shots. Then it may be a reason to check whether this is true or not, whether this took place and, if so, where and from which side," Peskov said during a regular call with journalists on Wednesday.

Two videos purporting to show beheaded Ukrainian soldiers have emerged on social media in the past week.

Earlier Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for the perpetrators to be punished.

“There is something that no one in the world can ignore: how easily these beasts kill,” he said.

“We are not going to forget anything. Neither are we going to forgive the murderers. There will be legal responsibility for everything. The defeat of terror is necessary,” Zelensky added.

Video that purports to show the beheading of a Ukrainian soldier is Russian propaganda and “an illegal execution by terrorists, by the occupying state," a Ukrainian official said Wednesday.

“We are now conducting a detailed check of the content, the location, and who it is," Andrii Yusov, a representative of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, told national TV. 

“This is another blatant fact of violation of all possible rules and norms of warfare. I am not even mentioning the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law,” he added.

“This is a fact that the world must pay attention to -- not only with sympathy or indignation, but by working together to bring all those responsible to justice.”

Yusov said the publication of the video is evidence “that such a genocidal policy, such a war crimes policy, is a state policy”.

“Propaganda in Russia is centralized. There is a periodic posting of such videos of atrocities by the Russian military, we recently saw the execution of a Ukrainian soldier for the slogan ‘Glory to Ukraine,’ in general, once a month, once every few weeks, such content appears," he added. 

“This is a deliberate state policy of the Russian Federation to cover the atrocities of its army against the Ukrainians, against Ukrainian military,” said Yusov.

He said the goal of the policy is “undoubtedly an attempt to demoralize and sow panic among the Ukrainian defense and security forces, which they are failing at”.

“Also, the purpose of such public atrocities, torture and executions is, in particular, to intimidate their soldiers.”   

Two videos purporting to show beheaded Ukrainian soldiers have emerged on social media in the past week.                                  

Russia will not tolerate attempts by the US to “pressure” it over the detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Wednesday, according to Russian state media outlet TASS. 

Ryabkov told journalists Russia was considering allowing US diplomats consular access to Gershkovich, adding that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was in working contact with the US embassy. 

“On this issue we are acting in full compliance with our laws, naturally taking into account the provisions of the consular convention and are guided by available precedent in this area," said Ryabkov. "Therefore, we reject any attempts to pressure us.”

Gershkovich is facing up to 20 years in prison on espionage charges. The US State Department has designated him as being wrongfully detained,

Next week a Moscow court will hear an appeal filed by Gershkovich's lawyers against the decision that he should be held in the notorious Lefortovo pre-detention center until May 29, according to state media outlet RIA Novosti. 

Ryabkov also said that the highly classified Pentagon documents leaked online in recent weeks could be fake and deliberately planted with the aim of misleading Russia, according to TASS.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has launched a war crimes investigation into a video that purports to show the beheading of a Ukrainian soldier, it announced Wednesday.

“Yesterday, a video was posted online of the Russian occupiers showing their beast side by brutally torturing a Ukrainian prisoner and cutting off his head,” the SBU said in a statement on Telegram.

“The Security Service of Ukraine launched a pre-trial investigation into this war crime under Part 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine,” the SBU said.

"We will find these inhumans. If necessary, we will get them wherever they are: from under the ground or from the other side. But they will definitely be punished for their actions," SBU chief Vasyl Maliuk added.

The video seen by CNN, which was posted on Twitter and is heavily blurred, looks to have been filmed during the summer because of the amount of plant life on the ground. 

It purports to show a Russian fighter using a knife to cut off the head of a Ukrainian soldier. A voice at the beginning of the video suggests the victim might have still been alive when the brutal attack began.

The video was one of two purportedly showing beheaded Ukrainian soldiers that have emerged on social media in the past week. The other may have been filmed more recently.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called Russia “worse than ISIS” and said it is “absurd” that the country is currently presiding over the UN Security Council.

“Russian terrorists must be kicked out of Ukraine and the UN and be held accountable for their crimes,” he said on Twitter.

Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the Head of the Office of President of Ukraine, tweeted: “Russian soldier is recorded enjoying cutting off head of Ukrainian war prisoner. Proving their beast nature and convincing world of RF's [Russian Federation’s] bloodthirstiness once again.”

“There is something that no one in the world can ignore: how easily these beasts kill,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said in response to a social media video that purportedly shows the beheading of a Ukrainian soldier.

“We are not going to forget anything. Neither are we going to forgive the murderers. There will be legal responsibility for everything. The defeat of terror is necessary,” he said in a video message on Wednesday.

Two videos have emerged in the past week that purport to show beheaded Ukrainian soldiers.

Dariia Zarivna, adviser to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said in a statement Wednesday that the videos are "aimed at intimidation."

“It completely dehumanizes and demonstrates the essence of a terrorist country,” she said of the videos.

“But it is important to understand the purpose. This is an PSYOP [psychological operation] aimed at intimidation. The target audience is not only Ukraine, but also Western societies,” she said.

“It doesn't work on us, though. The Russians are afraid of this, but not us,” she added.

The videos appear to be of separate events -- one of them may have been filmed very recently, while the other, from the amount of foliage seen on the ground, looks like it was filmed during the summer.

The second video was posted on Twitter and is heavily blurred. It purports to show a Russian fighter using a knife to cut off the head of a Ukrainian soldier.

A voice at the beginning of the video suggests the victim might have still been alive when the brutal attack began.

Ukraine's Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova has requested more medicine and medical equipment from India, according to India's Ministry of External Affairs.

Dzhaparova concluded a three-day visit to India on Wednesday, where she met with Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture Meenakshi Lekhi.

In a statement issued by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) following her visit, Dzhaparova also “proposed that rebuilding infrastructure in Ukraine could be an opportunity for Indian companies."

According to the MEA, she “handed over a letter from President Zelensky, addressed to Prime Minister Modi," but the ministry didn't provide further details about the letter.

The MEA also announced that the next session of the Inter-Governmental Commission, a group focused on trade and bilateral cooperation between the two countries, will be held in India.

In contrast, the next round of Foreign Office Consultations, which focus on diplomatic ties between the two countries, will take place in Kyiv. The dates for both meetings are yet to be decided.

The European Union strongly condemns the decision of Russian authorities to declare the activities of EU-Russia Civil Society Forum as "undesirable," according to a statement from the European Union External Action (EEAS) on Wednesday.

The Russian Prosecutor General's Office on Tuesday had effectively shut down the Berlin-based organization which hosts intergovernmental conferences and civil society events.

This decision further intensifies the crackdown on independent civil society and media in Russia, taking place against the backdrop of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the EEAS said in its statement.

The European Union urges the Russian authorities to repeal the current legislation on the so-called “undesirable organizations” and “foreign agents”, which severely restricts the freedoms of association and opinion, the statement added.

Authorities in Russian-annexed Crimea and the city of Sevastopol have cancelled parades and marches to celebrate Victory Day on May 9 and May Day (May 1) citing security reasons.

The two dates are public holidays in Russia, with May 9 marking Soviet victory over Nazi Germany.  

Aksenov noted that representatives of local authorities will visit veterans and congratulate them on Victory Day.

The situation in Crimea: While any Ukrainian offensive to reclaim Crimea is at best distant, the Russians are taking no chances. 

As CNN reported last month, Russia is going to great lengths to fortify the peninsula, which it illegally annexed in 2014. 

The Ukrainian military, meanwhile, has been carrying out attacks in Crimea with two goals: harass the Russian Black Sea fleet and disrupt vital Russian supply lines.

Few details emerge about Ukrainian strikes in Crimea. Only occasionally does unofficial social media video provide clues about what has been hit. And only occasionally do normally circumspect Ukrainian officials refer to any actions in Crimea.

Previous reporting from CNN's Tim Lister