We’ll avenge POW shot dead on film, say his army comrades
Soldier gunned down after saying ‘Glory to Ukraine’ identified as tractor driver who lived with his mother
THE Ukrainian prisoner of war who was gunned down after declaring “Glory to Ukraine” has been identified as a tractor driver who was living with his mother before the war.
The country’s defence ministry identified the soldier as Timofey Shadura, a 41-year-old from the 30th Mechanised Brigade, who had been missing in fighting around Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine since February.
The commanders of the brigade offered their condolences to his family, adding “revenge is inevitable”.
“He’s a tractor driver by training. He was living with his mother. His two brothers live in the same village,” a brigade spokesman went on to say.
The soldier’s sister reportedly confirmed his identity after watching the footage of his shooting, saying: “These are his eyes, his voice and that’s how he always smokes his cigarette.”
In the video clip, shared widely on social media, Mr Shadura is smoking in a forest clearing while Russian guns are pointed at him. In his last moments, he said “Slava Ukraini”, the Ukrainian war motto, before being shot to death in repeated bursts of gunfire.
Ukraine’s defence ministry said Mr Shadura’s body “is currently on the occupied territory ... conclusive identification will be held once the body is retrieved and goes through the necessary procedures”.
Mr Shadura was a civilian called up to the army last December, an official at the brigade said. He did, however, have previous combat experience.
Mr Shadura hailed from Mala Derevychka, a small village in central Ukraine, where he lived with his mother.
Neither the Russian armed forces nor militants from Wagner, the mercenary group, have claimed responsibility for the killing. A Ukrainian journalist who spoke to six members of Mr Shadura’s family after the shooting confirmed his identity. “His sister said, ‘This is 100 per cent my brother. These are his eyes, his voice and that’s how he always smokes his cigarette’,” Sofia Kochmartymoshenko said
In his nightly address on Monday, President Volodymyr Zelensky pledged to find the perpetrators and bring them to justice. “I want all of us to respond to these words together, in unity: ‘Glory to the hero! Glory to the heroes!
‘This is 100 per cent my brother. These are his eyes, his voice and that’s how he smokes his cigarette’
Glory to Ukraine!’ And we will find the murderers,” he declared.
Dmytro Kuleba, the Ukrainian foreign minister, has called on the International Criminal Court to launch an immediate investigation into the footage as a war crime.
Yesterday, Ukraine’s prosecutor general’s office said it would pursue war crimes charges in the case.
Meanwhile, Russia has lost an estimated five men for every Ukrainian soldier killed in the battle for Bakhmut, according to a Nato official.
Yesterday, the Ukrainian military claimed 1,600 Russians had been killed over the previous 24 hours as the commander of the mercenary forces leading the assault described the battle as a “meat grinder” for his troops.
The Nato official speaking to CNN said intelligence showed Russia’s losses in the assault on the eastern town far outweighed those of Ukraine. However, Ukraine’s losses were “significant”.