‘Impossible to comprehend’: Investigation after Ukraine soldier executed with sword inscribed with ‘for Kursk’

Horrific images of an alleged execution with a sword on the Ukraine front line has sparked fury and a renewed investigation into war crimes. WARNING: Graphic

WARNING: Graphic

Ukrainian authorities are investigating the alleged execution of a Ukrainian soldier by Russian forces following the discovery of his body with a sword inscribed with “for Kursk” lodged in his chest.

The horrific scene was posted across Telegram this week, sparking a wave of disgust among Ukrainians, who have called for a renewed push to prosecute the Russian military for war crimes.

It appears to be in retaliation for Ukraine’s recent incursion into the Russian border region of Kursk, which marked the first foreign invasion of Russian territory since World War II.

The photo posted online shows the soldier lying on his back on a debris-covered road, with the medieval-style sword protruding from his chest.

His wrists, covered in blood, appear to have been bound with duct tape.

Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin condemned the act, calling it “another act of barbarism” by Russia.

“Russia continues its deliberate policy of eliminating everything Ukrainian, demonstrating worldwide its brutal cruelty and cynically disregarding any values and norms of the civilised world,” Kostin said in a post on X.

His office confirmed it had initiated a criminal investigation into the alleged execution.

According to preliminary assessments, the incident occurred in Novohrodivka, located in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.

Ukraine’s Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets said that the alleged execution constitutes “a violation of the Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War,” which prohibits torture and mandates the protection of prisoners from violence.

“The level of barbarism and bloodthirstiness is impossible to comprehend,” Lubinets wrote on his Telegram channel.

The Kremlin has not commented on the alleged execution.

Ukrainian authorities are investigating investigation into the alleged execution of a Ukrainian soldier by Russian forces, following the discovery of his body with a sword inscribed with ‘for Kursk’ lodged in his chest.

Ukraine is currently investigating some 130,000 war crimes allegedly committed by Russian forces since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022.

Kostin mentioned in June that such war crimes are part of Kyiv’s broader effort to document Russia’s actions. Human rights activists believe the full scale of the alleged breaches will only come to light in the distant future and have pushed international powers to ramp up efforts in identifying the perpetuators.

Meanwhile, Russia has intensified its efforts to expel Ukrainian forces from Kursk as President Vladimir Putin pushes to grow his nation’s military to become the second largest in the world, behind China.

Russia is also making slow progress towards Pokrovsk, located northwest of Novohrodivka, where the alleged sword execution took place. In a military update on Thursday, Ukraine reported it had thwarted 40 Russian attacks near Pokrovsk over the previous 24 hours, with the fiercest fighting occurring near Hrodivka and Novohrodivka.

The sword had a message written on the blade.

It comes as The International Criminal Court pushes for the arrest of Russia’s top army chief and ex-defence minister over strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure that constituted alleged war crimes.

The ICC warrants are the latest in a series of actions by the court over the Ukraine war, including an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The warrants specifically target Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, and former defence minister Sergei Shoigu.

The pair are accused of the war crimes of directing attacks at civilian targets and causing excessive incidental harm to civilians, as well as the crime against humanity of “inhumane acts” in Ukraine, the ICC said in a statement.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky says he wants to see Russia’s alleged war criminals ‘behind bars’.

ICC judges said there were “reasonable grounds to believe that the two suspects bear responsibility for missile strikes carried out by the Russian armed forces against the Ukrainian electric infrastructure from at least 10 October 2022 until at least 9 March 2023.”

The court said these strikes were “directed against civilian objects” and even when targets could be considered military, civilian damage “would have been clearly excessive to the anticipated military advantage”.

Ukraine hailed the “important” decision, with President Volodymyr Zelensky saying Kyiv hoped to see the pair “behind bars”.

“This decision is a clear indication that justice for Russian crimes against Ukrainians is inevitable,” Zelensky said on social media.

Russia has in turn dismissed the warrants as “insignificant”.

The country’s security council said: “It’s all hot air since the ICC’s jurisdiction does not cover Russia” and the decision was taken “as part of the West’s hybrid war against our country.”

Originally published as ‘Impossible to comprehend’: Investigation after Ukraine soldier executed with sword inscribed with ‘for Kursk’