Zelenskiy vows to ‘find the murderers’ of PoW allegedly shot dead by Russians

Volodymyr Zelenskiy has vowed to "find the murderers" of an unarmed Ukrainian prisoner of war apparently shot dead by Russian troops as the Ukrainian military named the man it said was in the footage that spread rapidly across social media on Monday.

In the graphic 12-second clip that first circulated on Telegram and was widely shared on Twitter, a detained combatant, named by the Ukrainian military as Tymofiy Mykolayovych Shadura, is seen standing in a shallow trench smoking a cigarette. The soldier, in uniform with a Ukrainian flag insignia on his arm, says "Glory to Ukraine" and is then apparently shot with automatic weapons.

He slumps to the ground as bullets appear to hit his body and a voice is heard saying: "Die, bitch" in Russian.

The Ukrainian military said in a statement that Shadura was a member of the 30th Separate Mechanized Brigade and had been missing since 3 February near Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, according to what it called preliminary information.

Some Ukrainian media and bloggers have cast doubt on the military's assertion that the man was Shadura and claim instead that the murdered man is Oleksandr Igorevich Matsievskyi, a member of the fire support company of the 163rd battalion of the territorial defence in the city of Nizhyn, who was deployed to Bakhmut last November. He was reported missing in January, allegedly captured by the Russians, and his body was reportedly returned to his family in February.

"Currently, the body of our serviceman is in the temporarily occupied territory. The final confirmation of the identity can be established after the return of the body and the relevant examinations," the military said.

"The command of the 30th Separate Mechanized Brigade and the brothers of the hero express their sincere condolences to his relatives and friends. Revenge for our hero will be inevitable. Glory to Ukraine! Glory to heroes!"

Zelenskiy condemned the alleged killing in a video message on his Instagram and Telegram account posted late on Monday evening.

"Today, a video has emerged of the occupiers brutally killing a warrior who bravely said to their faces: 'Glory to Ukraine!', he said. I want us all to respond to his words together, in unity: 'Glory to the hero! Glory to the heroes! Glory to Ukraine!' And we will find the murderers. Ukraine will not forget the feat of each and every one whose lives gave freedom to Ukraine for ever."

Andriy Kostin, Ukraine's prosecutor general, said on Telegram that Ukraine's security service had registered the shooting as a criminal case under part of the country's criminal code that covers violations of war laws and customs.

"Even the war has its own laws," he said, adding that prosecutors from his office would lead the case. "There are rules of international law systematically ignored by the Russian criminal regime. But sooner or later, there will be punishment."

The Guardian could not independently verify the authenticity, date or location of the video.

The head of Ukraine's presidential office, Andriy Yermak, said the man was a Ukrainian prisoner of war and the incident was part of a "deliberate policy of terror" by Russia.

"The murder of a captive is the latest Russian war crime," Yermak tweeted. "For every such war crime there will be retribution."

Kyiv has previously accused Moscow of torturing and killing prisoners since Russia invaded Ukraine.

Last month, Konstantin Yefremov, a senior Russian lieutenant who fled after serving in Ukraine, described to the Guardian how his country's troops tortured prisoners of war and threatened some with rape.

Throughout the war, the Kremlin has accused Ukrainian soldiers of executing Russian PoWs and the west of ignoring the incidents.

Ukraine's human rights commissioner, Dmytro Lubinets, said he had sent the video to the country's "international partners".

"Once again, they violate Geneva conventions. They will not evade responsibility for their atrocities," Lubinets wrote.

Intense fighting continued on Tuesday for control of Bakhmut as Zelenskiy publicly committed his troops to defend the largely ravaged city in the east of the country.

"The command unanimously supported" the decision not to withdraw, the Ukrainian president said. "There were no other positions. I told the commander-in-chief to find the appropriate forces to help our guys in Bakhmut."

Zelenskiy's statements came after reports that Ukraine might soon withdraw from Bakhmut, ending one of the war's bloodiest battles since the start of the conflict.

Western officials say Russia has suffered 20,000 to 30,000 casualties in trying to take Bakhmut, while the killed-to-wounded ratio could be worse than one to three.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the officials said the battle for Bakhmut "may well last for another month", or "Ukrainians could decide to leave within a week".

On Russia's side, the defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, on Tuesday morning said that capturing Bakhmut "will allow for further offensive operations deep into the defence lines of the Ukrainian armed forces". Shoigu further claimed that Ukraine had lost more than 11,000 servicemen in February.

When asked about Shoigu's comments, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner group of mercenaries, said he had "not seen him in Bakhmut", as the conflict between Russia's military leadership and one of Vladimir Putin's most notorious associates continues to rage.

For weeks, Prigozhin, whose troops bear the brunt of the fighting for Russia in and around Bakhmut has criticised Shoigu and the defence ministry, claiming the army is withholding ammunition from Wagner. Putin has not yet commented on the growing feud.

Additional reporting by Artem Mazhulin