The identity of a Ukrainian soldier who was executed while proclaiming "glory to Ukraine" in a widely circulated video was confirmed by the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) on Sunday.
Oleksandr Matsiyevsky was a sniper in the 119th Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He had been enlisted last March.
"Killing prisoners of war is a war crime. Those responsible for such crimes will face punishment."
Dmytro Kuleba
With the identification of the soldier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky conferred upon him the posthumous title of Hero of Ukraine.
"A Ukrainian warrior," Zelensky eulogized on Sunday. "A man who will be known and remembered forever."
The SSU head Vasyl Malyuk said that Matsiyevsky demonstrated Ukrainian character even in the face of death.
While the video circulated on social media recently and caused outrage among Ukrainian officials, Matsiyevsky had been killed in December and his body had been recovered in February, the SSU said.
In the video, Matsiyevsky could be seen smoking a cigarette and uttering the phrase "slava Ukraini." Alleged Russian soldiers cursed the POW, and killed him with a burst of automatic gunfire.
In an address last Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the video of "the occupiers brutally killing a warrior who bravely said to their faces: 'Glory to Ukraine!'"
Russia's war crimes
He called on Ukrainians to echo the soldier's words, and promised to find the POW's killers.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the video was proof that the war was genocidal in nature, and called on the International Criminal Court to investigate the matter as a war crime.
"Today, Ukrainians were shaken by another case of Russian brutality," said the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry. "Killing prisoners of war is a war crime. Those responsible for such crimes will face punishment."
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry also emphasized that "all Russian war criminals will be punished."
The head of Zelensky's office, Andrii Yermak, said on Telegram that the execution was evidence of how "war crimes are cultivated in Russia," and were "whitewashed by their propaganda and myths about the 'Nazis.'"
Russian leaders have portrayed the Ukrainian government as inheritors of Nazi ideology and have stated the "denazification" of Ukraine as an objective of the war.
"There will be retribution for every such war crime," said Yermak. "No one can hide from it."