Russian soldiers executed a Ukrainian prisoner of war with a medieval-style sword in revenge for the incursion into Kursk, Kyiv has claimed.
Sickening pictures appear to show an unarmed Ukrainian soldier lying in a pool of blood after being stabbed with the primitive weapon by his Russian captors.
‘The level of barbarity and bloodthirstiness is impossible to comprehend,’ said Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian parliament’s commissioner for human rights.
The sword is seen embedded in the torso of the Ukrainian fighter, whose hands have been bound with tape, with his body evidently left out as a macabre warning.
The words ‘For Kursk’ are daubed on the weapon – referring to Ukraine’s surprise incursion into the Russian border region which has humiliated Vladimir Putin.
A censored image shows the sword plunged into the body of a Ukrainian soldier
Lubinets has reported the alleged evidence of war crimes to the United Nations and International Committee of the Red Cross.
‘Another war crime – the Russians executed an unarmed Ukrainian prisoner of war with a sword with his hands bandaged with tape,’ said the ombudsman.
‘Such actions are a gross violation of the Geneva Convention relating to the treatment of prisoners of war.
‘How much longer will the world watch as Russia openly demonstrates disregard for any norms and laws?’
He added: ‘I would like to emphasise separately that such demonstrative executions are aimed at demoralising Ukrainian society.
The words ‘For Kursk’ are daubed on the weapon – referring to Ukraine ‘s surprise incursion into the Russian border region
‘However, seeing such actions, we must become even more determined in the fight against the aggressor.’
Some reports say that the appalling killing was in Russian-occupied Donetsk region in or near Novogrodivka. The sword appears to be ceremonial or decorative.
Ukrainian Andryushchenko Time channel reported: ‘The Russians executed our prisoner in a particularly cynical manner.
‘Judging by the amount of blood, the sword was driven into the still alive fighter. Tape is visible on the wrists.’
The report vowed: ‘Retribution will find every Russian criminal…do not forget and do not forgive. Rage. Just Rage.’
Meanwhile some Russian channels have openly approved of the barbarity.
Spetskurs, a Russian pro-war activist running paramilitary camps for children, declared: ‘Well deserved.’
Ukrainian soldiers have captured large numbers of prisoners during their incursion into Kursk
Russian tanks fire at Ukrainian military positions in the Kursk region in Russia. The Russian Ministry of Defence released the footage on September 10
The hardline Rosich, based in St Petersburg, declared: ‘Whoever comes to us with a sword will perish by the sword.’
While the weapon used in the killing is particularly barbaric, such horrific killings have become a disturbing feature of the war.
Last month a Russian fighter boasted that his battalion had ‘blown the heads off’ Ukrainian servicemen.
Grim video showed the soldier allegedly posing with a severed head impaled on a pole.
The footage was reported as a war crime to the UN by the Kyiv authorities, and was seemingly made at a Russian border point in the Belgorod region.
Dmytro Lubinets has reported the alleged evidence of war crimes to the United Nations
Also in August, a suspected Ukrainian prisoner of war was pictured with his head, arms and legs dismembered. Videos have shown executions of unarmed and bound PoWs.
In June, the severed head of a Ukrainian defender was allegedly placed on a war-damaged armoured vehicle by Russian invaders.
Ukraine launched its surprise offensive in Russia’s Kursk region on August 6, with Kyiv claiming to have taken control of some 100 Russian settlements and almost 1,300 sq km of territory by the end of last month.
The invasion, which has been highly embarrassing for the Kremlin, marked the first time a foreign army has taken control of parts of Russia since World War II.
Russian and Ukrainian sources both confirmed last week that Kyiv’s troops had started losing their grip on some of the ground they seized during the blistering offensive, with Moscow launching a major counter-offensive.
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