Everything we know about Russia’s shocking execution of a Ukrainian POW

Russian forces revealed their brutality once again this week after a video showing the savage execution of a Ukrainian prisoner of war emerged online.

In the short video, a captured Ukrainian soldier can be seen smoking in a trench before proclaiming “Glory to Ukraine” and being shot by machine gun fire. 

Photo by Twitter @secretsqrl123

The unarmed prisoner of war was hit by multiple bullets and then collapsed to the ground while the Russian soldiers continued to fire at his lifeless body. 

The Russian soldiers could be heard saying the phrase: “You’re a b***h” and “die b***h” in the background while they executed their prisoner according to Ukrainska Pravda. 

Ukrainian authorities have already called for the murdered soldier's death to be investigated and have asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) to look into the incident they consider to be a war crime. 

“Horrific video of an unarmed Ukrainian POW executed by Russian forces merely for saying Glory to Ukraine,” wrote Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, in a March 6th tweet. 

“Another proof this war is genocidal,” Kuleba added, before calling on ICC prosecutor Karim Khan to launch an investigation into the heinous war crime. 

“Perpetrators must face justice,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister wrote, though he wasn’t the only official to sound off against Russia’s brutal execution of a Ukrainian prisoner of war.

“Once again, they violate Geneva conventions. They will not evade responsibility for their atrocities,” said Dymtro Lubinets, Ukraine’s Human Rights Commissioner. 

President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the incident in his March 6th nightly address, saying that Ukraine would “find the murderers.”

Screenshot from Facebook @zelenskiy.official

On March 7th, Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar revealed that her ministry had identified the slain solider but was waiting on a statement from his brigade commander before officially releasing the “identity of the deceased.”

Representatives from the 30th Mechanized Brigade later identified the murdered soldier as Tymofii Mykolajovich Shadura in a statement posted on social media. 

Photo by Reddit

Shadura was believed to have gone missing on February 3rd somewhere around Bakhmut according to the statement. 

“Currently, the body of our soldier is in the temporarily occupied territory, " the statement added. “The final confirmation... will be established after the body is returned and the relevant examinations are carried out.”

"The command of the 30th separate mechanized brigade and the brothers of the hero express their sincere condolences to his relatives and friends," the statement added. “Revenge will be inevitable.”

Shadura was mobilized in December 2022 and lived in the village of Mala Derevychka, Zhytomyr Oblast, where his mother and two brothers still live according to Ukrainska Pravda. 

Ukraine’s Head of the President’s Office Andriy Yermak was the first official to circulate the video of Shadura’s execution, doing so on his Telegram channel. 

"War crimes are cultivated in Russia," Yermak wrote on Telegram, "they are whitewashed by their propaganda and myths about the Nazis."

"Killing a person taken to captivity is another example of this," Yermak continued. "It is also an example of their national insignificance and weakness.” 

"There will be a payback for every such war crime,” Yermak added in a translation provided by Ukrainska Pravda. “No one will be able to hide from it."

As of February 1st, Ukraine's Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said that Ukranian authorities have registered upwards of 65,000 war crimes since the conflict began according to Amanda Macias of CNBC.