During the first year of the full-scale invasion, Russian forces captured Ukrainian sniper Oleksandr Matsievsky. Later, a video surfaced that purportedly showed him smoking his final cigarette in a woodland, close to a cemetery that he had been made to dig.
He exclaims, “Glory to Ukraine!” to his captors. Shots rang out a few moments later, and he passes away.
His is just one of many executions.
Nine Ukrainian troops who had been seized were reportedly shot dead by Russian forces in the Kursk region in October of this year. A picture of half-naked bodies on the ground is part of the case being investigated by Ukrainian authorities. Drone operator Ruslan Holubenko was one of the victims, and his parents were able to identify him thanks to this shot.
His distressed mother said, “I recognized him by his underwear.”
