A gruesome video appearing to show a Ukrainian captive being beheaded by a Russian soldier has been condemned by Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The clip appears to show a man in green fatigues wearing the yellow armband typically used by Ukrainian soldiers. He is heard screaming before another man apparently uses a knife to decapitate him.
Sky News has not been able to verify the authenticity of the video, which appears to have been taken by one of the apparent Russian soldiers.
Ukraine war latest:
MoD says Pentagon leak has ‘serious level of inaccuracy’ – updates
“There is something that no one in the world can ignore: how easily these beasts kill,” the Ukrainian president said, his face sombre.
“There will be legal responsibility for everything. The defeat of terror is necessary,” he added in a video message.
The Kremlin described the video as “awful” but said its authenticity needed to be checked.
Moscow has denied in the past that its troops carry out atrocities during the conflict.
Read more:
Claims about Ukraine war revealed in Pentagon leaks
Why NATO expansion may lead to ‘axis of evil’
Ukrainian foreign minister Dmitro Kuleba said on Twitter: “A horrific video of Russian troops decapitating a Ukrainian prisoner of war is circulating online.
“It’s absurd that Russia, which is worse than ISIS, is presiding over the UNSC,” he said, referring to the UN Security Council, where Russia took up the rotating presidency this month.
He added: “Russian terrorists must be kicked out of Ukraine and the UN and be held accountable for their crimes.”
Ukraine’s foreign ministry called on the International Criminal Court to “immediately investigate yet another atrocity of the Russian military”.
The UN says it is “appalled” by the footage.
“Regrettably this is not an isolated incident,” the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine said in a statement.
It said it recently found “a number of serious violations of international humanitarian law”, including against prisoners of war.
“These latest violations must also be properly investigated and the perpetrators must be held accountable,” it said.
Ukraine’s ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said today that he will call on the UN Human Rights Committee to investigate the video apparently showing the Ukrainian prisoner of war’s execution.