According to civil rights activists, a Russian ex-mercenary identified former comrades as the perpetrators in the video, which caused international horror and is supposed to show the beheading of a Ukrainian prisoner of war. The video material was sent to Andrei Medvedev, who fled to Norway months ago and is currently being held in Sweden, said the founder of the Russian civil rights organization Gulagu.net, Vladimir Ossechkin, in an interview today.
“He clearly recognizes his former colleagues there”
“He listened and watched it carefully several times, and he clearly recognizes there his former colleagues, fighters of the Wagner mercenary group,” Ossechkin said in the post, published on the YouTube channel of expatriate Russian opposition figure Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Medvedev, who himself used to fight for the notorious Russian mercenary group, identified the men based on “characteristic call signs and their way of speaking,” the civil rights activist continued.
Ossechkin’s organization is actually primarily known for its work against violence in Russian prison camps. However, she also looked after ex-mercenary Medvedev when he was arrested in Norway in January in accordance with the local immigration law after fleeing. Medvedev was later released in Norway – but a few weeks later he was imprisoned in neighboring Sweden for illegal entry.
A video of around one and a half minutes appeared on the Internet on Wednesday night. It shows one man in uniform being beheaded by another. The perpetrator wears a white marking on his clothing that is typical for Russian soldiers. However, the authenticity of the video and the time it was recorded have not yet been independently verified.
Selenskyj called for a minute’s silence
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for a minute’s silence over the video at an event in Washington. “I now ask you to commemorate with a minute’s silence the Ukrainian soldier whose death we all witnessed yesterday,” Zelenskyy, who joined the video, said at a roundtable on Ukraine during the spring meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. He also remembered the other victims of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. Then Selenskyj paused briefly.
“Ukraine is going through a storm of emotions right now,” the Ukrainian President said. The Russian army is trying to make this level of violence and atrocities routine throughout Ukraine and is proud of it. “The long history of Russian impunity must finally end,” Zelenskyy said. Every day in Ukraine “men, women, adults and children” would die at the hands of Russia.
