WARNING DISTURBING CONTENT: The hideous clip shows a small unit of Russian soldiers working each other up to "cut off" a defenceless Ukrainian prisoner of war's head by "breaking the spine"
Kyiv has vowed to seek justice over a sickening video purporting to show a Russian soldier beheading a Ukrainian prisoner of war.
The barbaric footage, which The Mirror has chosen not to show, which spread overnight on the Internet is suspected to have been filmed last year, but as yet there is no confirmation as to its authenticity, nor clarity about the location or circumstances in which it was filmed.
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It finishes with the blood-covered severed head of the apparent PoW held up to the camera.
If proved to be genuine, the bestial video is one of the most grotesque examples of war crimes from the conflict unleashed by Vladimir Putin.
It shows a masked man in camouflage with a covered face using a long knife cutting off the head of an apparent PoW with Ukrainian insignia who is trapped beneath him on the ground.
Ukraine has begun an investigation into war crimes committed by Russian troops, who are under the direction of tyrannical despot Vladimir Putin ( Image: SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images)
The victim pleads for mercy repeatedly uttering the words “It hurts” and “Stop” before he is killed.
A voice from another allegedly Russian fighter taunts the killer to behead and break the spine of the stricken man.
“Send it to Kyiv, *****,” a voice says in a foul-mouthed rant.
“******** everyone! Work, brothers! Work, *****!”
The killer is urged to “show the head” and “bag it” then send it to their commander.
The chief of Volodymyr Zelensky’s office appeared to be referring to this grotesque footage when he said in a statement “There will be an answer and responsibility for everything.”
Ukraine has vowed revenge against the twisted troops ( Image: SERGEY DOLZHENKO/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)
Russian officials have not commented on the video.
The killer wears a white ribbon often used for identification of Russian forces in occupied Ukraine.
The one-and-a-half minute video does not appear to have been recorded in winter or the Ukrainian spring - with green leaves visible, so if genuine it is likely to be from last year.
A glimpse of the man’s face suggests he has asiatic features.
Putin’s fighting force in Ukraine comprises men from multiple ethnic groups in the Urals, Siberia and the Russian Far East, as well as ethnic Russians.
Oleg Tsaryov, a staunchly pro-Moscow Ukrainian businessman and politician, said: "Cutting off the head of a captive is a crime.
“Filming it on camera is idiotic. I cannot find a definition for those who post all this on the net.
“All I know is that if there is no legal punishment for this, there will be no state.”