A graphic video has gone viral on social media that appears to show a Russian soldier allegedly castrating a Ukrainian prisoner before shooting him dead.
The footage shows camouflaged soldiers kicking the Ukrainian prisoner in the head. His mouth has been gagged and he is seen moaning in desperation as the Russian troops rip his pants. They then use a box cutter to cut off his genitalia and are seen throwing it on the ground nearby.
Reportedly, the footage was originally posted on pro-Russian Telegram channels.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has vowed to hunt down the Russian troops who appeared to castrate the Ukrainian soldier.
Mikhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, confirmed the authenticity of the video and pledged to bring the perpetrators to justice. "We will identify and get to each of you," he tweeted.
UN, Red Cross should probe POW deaths: Ukraine
Authorities in Ukraine have called on the UN and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to probe an attack in an occupied territory in Donetsk which led to the deaths of at least 53 Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs).
On Friday morning, Russian media outlets announced the shelling of a prison camp in Olenivka, reports Ukrayinska Pravda.
While the Russian outlets blamed the Armed Forces of Ukraine of targeting the camp where the POWs were being held, Kyiv said that Moscow conducted the shelling to cover up the torture and murders of the captured soldiers.
On Friday night, President Volodymyr Zelensky held a meeting with military, intelligence and security chiefs, as well as the Parliament Commissioner of Human Rights to discuss the attack.
Following the meeting, a joint statement was issued by the Security Service of Ukraine which called on the UN and the ICRC, "which acted as guarantors of the life and health of Ukrainian POWs, to immediately respond to the terrorist act committed by the Russian Federation".
The statement also demanded that representatives of the world bodies should be sent immediately to Olenivka "with the purpose of an inspection mission".
(With IANS inputs)
