Execution Russia’s most awful crime
AVIDEO in which the Russians shot an unarmed captured Ukrainian soldier at close range has affected even heartless people.
The person behind the screen points the camera at the serviceman.the young man with the soft smile and kind eyes then says, “Slava Ukraini” (Glory to Ukraine).
After these words the Russians immediately shoot him in the head.the man falls, and they aim several more times at his body.the activist Serhiy Sternenko says, “the Ukrainian fighter was forced to dig his own grave”.
The execution hit me in the heart: this cruelty had no excuse. By doing this, Russia committed its most awful crime since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.
The victim was 42-year-old Oleksandr Matsievskiy. In December, his battalion went to the east of Ukraine.
On December 30, Oleksandr and four of his comrades were on a mission, from which no one returned.
He is survived by his mother and little son and they both saw the shocking video of Oleksandr’s execution.
Mother Paraska says she still lives because she promised her son to do so at any cost.
She had to identify her son’s body at the morgue, and she later said: “There was no face left and the body was riddled with bullet holes.”
Paraska will never forgive or forget her son’s execution.
She said: “I saw the character of my son, unbreakable and brave. He used to tell me that he would never surrender.”
Oleksandr instantly became a national hero and I will never forget his fearless look in the face of death that only emphasised the meanness of the enemy.
The words and hashtag “Slava Ukraini” made it to the top of global Twitter trends.
While our defenders are killed on camera, Ukraine protects the dignity and the rights of our enemies.
In the west of the country there is a camp where Russian prisoners of war are kept. They are well fed, given work – and a salary.
Even in war there are rules. The execution is a violation of the Geneva Conventions.
A spokeswoman for the UN Office for Human Rights has already confirmed that the video is real. During his visit to Kyiv, UN Secretary-general Antonio Guterres reminded of “the need to observe the precepts of war”.
Unfortunately, diplomacy doesn’t work on terrorists.