Video of alleged beheading of a Ukrainian Prisoner of War by Russian Forces (2023)

Date 	11 April 2023 (first time the video appeared online); beheading is allegedly from Summer 2022
Suspected actor	Russian forces
Target 	N/A
Method 	In April 2023, a video depicting the beheading of a Ukrainian prisoner of war began circulating widely on multiple social media websites. The video, which was believed to be first shared on the messaging app Telegram by a pro-Kremlin blogger,Aljazeera, ‘An alleged beheading in Ukraine: What we know so far’ (Aljazeera, 13 April 2023) https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/13/an-alleged-beheading-in-ukraine-what-we-know-so-far. shows a man in a uniform worn by Ukrainian troops being approached and decapitated alive by a man in a uniform worn by Russian troops.Ibid. Another man shouts comments in Russian while the beheading takes place, telling the man in the Russian uniform to show the severed head to the camera and to “send it to Kyiv”.A. Khrebet, ‘Viral videos show pattern of Russian atrocities throughout the war’ (The Kyiv Independent, 14 April 2023) https://kyivindependent.com/beheading-of-captive-latest-in-a-series-of-russian-atrocities/. While the video originally was circulated within pro-Russian social media circles,Ibid. it ended up going “viral” on platforms such as X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube, and its constant re-sharing made it impossible to permanently remove from the internet. 
Russian forces have not claimed responsibility for the video, and the video has not been officially verified. While Ukrainian authorities have not publicly confirmed the name of the victim, a Hungarian news portal claimed that the man had been identified,G. Nyilas, ‘The soldier who was executed in Russian captivity lived in Nagyszőlős in Transcarpathia’ (Telex, 20 April 2023) https://telex.hu/kulfold/2023/04/20/ukrajna-haboru-karpatalja-nagyszolos-lefejezett-katona (translated from Hungarian). and that a photo of his severed head was sent to contacts on his mobile phone.Z. Vajta, ‘The Chechens cut off the head of a soldier of Hungarian origin - The killers received shocking photos from the acquaintances of Honvéd Pataki’ (Blikk, 21 April 2023) https://www.blikk.hu/aktualis/kulfold/lefejezett-magyar-szarmazasu-katona-fotojat-kuldtek-szet-a-csecsen-meszarosok/4094q01 (translated from Hungarian). According to Ukrainian news sources, the chief of the Main Directorate of Intelligence at the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine stated that he knew who the perpetrators were, but did not publicly disclose their identities.V. Mykytyuk, ‘"There is no official confirmation that this is our Serhiy": the family of the Transcarpathian fighter about the video of the execution of the Ukrainian defender’ (Fakty, 21 April 2023) https://fakty.ua/418699-net-nikakogo-oficialnogo-podtverzhdeniya-chto-eto-nash-sergej-semya-zakarpatskogo-bojca-o-video-s-obezglavleniem-ukrainskogo-zacshitnika (translated from Ukrainian).
Purpose 	Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian soldiers have routinely posted footage to social media websites seemingly to boast about killing Ukrainians.A. Khrebet (n 89); L. Harding, ‘Zelenskiy urges world leaders to act over PoW beheading video’ (The Guardian, 12 April 2023) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/12/ukraine-zelenskiy-urges-world-leaders-act-over-russia-pow-beheading-video. Ukraine’s military intelligence spokesperson, Andrii Yusov, stated that Russians posted the video to “demoralize the Ukrainian military” and “to prevent Russian troops from surrendering”.Ibid.
Result 	The video was condemned by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who posted a video of himself to X calling the Russian forces “beasts”.N. Camut and V. Melkozerova, ‘“Russian soldiers are ‘beasts,” Zelenskyy says over beheading video’ (Politico, 12 April 2023) https://www.politico.eu/article/russia-vladimir-putin-volodymyr-zelenskyy-ukraine-war-soldiers-are-beasts-execution-video/. The Ukrainian Foreign minister Dmitro Kuleba also posted on X that Russia was “worse than ISIS”, in reference to ISIS’ notoriety for sharing beheading videos online.Reuters, ‘Kyiv compares Russia to Islamic State after beheading video’ (Reuters, 12 April 2023) https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/kyiv-compares-russia-islamic-state-after-beheading-video-2023-04-12/. Further, in a briefing on 12 April 2023, the Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General stated that Secretary-General Guterres was “horrified” by the execution video.The New Voice of Ukraine, ‘UN chief Guterres “horrified” by video of beheading of Ukrainian soldier’ (The New Voice of Ukraine, 13 April 2023) https://english.nv.ua/nation/un-chief-guterres-horrified-by-video-of-beheading-of-ukrainian-soldier-50317513.html; United Nations, ‘Somalia, Japan & other topics--Daily Press Briefing (12 April 2023)’ (YouTube, 12 April 2023) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNGz3BLu83U&t=426s. 
The Security Service of Ukraine launched an investigation into the incident, but has not released any more information to the public.Radio Azattyk, ‘A video has emerged showing the beheading of a supposedly Ukrainian prisoner’ (Radio Azattyk, 12 April 2023) https://rus.azattyq.org/a/32360415.html (translated from Russian).
Aftermath 	The video continued to circulate on social media and was largely reported on globally in mainstream news. Although social media platforms removed the video for violation of their community guidelines, it continues to be reshared and can still be found online.
Analysed in 	Scenario 31: Sharing degrading content
Collected by: Sarah Zarmsky
Category:Example
Category:2023