Ukraine has revealed the identity of its soldier in a video of the execution of a prisoner of war that was circulated online last week, AFP reported.
A 12-second video circulated on social media showed a Ukrainian soldier unarmed in the woods smoking a cigarette and then being shot and killed by multiple shots, causing global outrage.
After he smoked a cigarette, he said ″Glory to Ukraine″, and bullets exploded with Russian profanity outside the video.
Ukraine and the West have claimed that Russian forces committed a war crime by shooting and killing prisoners of war, but the identity of the soldier who was shot has not been clearly established.
The State Security Service of Ukraine identified the soldier as Oleksandr Ihorovich Machijewski, a 42-year-old sniper from the 163rd Battalion of the Homeland Defense Brigade in Chernihiv region in northeastern Ukraine.
At the same time, the National Security Agency explained that “identification was confirmed through conversations with relatives, analysis of photos and videos, and forensic tests.”
Recently, Machijewski’s mother revealed to local media that the person in the video was her son, but the military claimed that someone else was the person in the video, causing confusion.
Director of the National Security Agency Vasil Maliuk said that efforts were also being made to identify the Russian military who shot and killed Machijewski.
According to Ukrainian forces defending the northern sector, Machijewski, a native of Moldova, was captured by Russian forces along with four other Ukrainian soldiers in the Donetsk region.
On this day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he would confer the title of “Hero of Ukraine” on Machijewski.
President Zelensky emphasized that ″Machieevsky is a soldier and a people who will be remembered forever by Ukrainians.