Kyiv investigates alleged Russian execution of Ukrainian serviceman with sword

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — Ukrainian police forensic experts search for evidence at a park where fighting took place between Ukrainian territorial forces and Russian forces at the beginning of the war, in Kherson, Ukraine November 16, 2022. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

(Reuters) - Ukrainian prosecutors said on Tuesday they had opened an investigation into a suspected Russian execution of a Ukrainian serviceman found dead with a sword in his body.

In the latest in a series of criminal investigations opened during Russia's war in Ukraine, the Prosecutor General's Office said on the Telegram messenger platform that it was looking into a social media post showing images of an apparent execution.

It did not identify the post but said it showed photos of a dead soldier in the eastern town of Novohrodivka.

"Footage of an alleged execution, with a sword, of an unarmed Ukrainian serviceman with taped hands is spreading on the web. Preliminarily, the crime was committed in Novohrodivka, Donetsk region," Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin said on X.

A blurred image posted alongside his post and his office's statement showed a bloodied body in military fatigues with a sword stuck in it, and adhesive tape visible around one hand.

Reuters could not independently verify the image.

Kyiv says it has documented nearly 130,000 war crimes committed by Moscow since its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Moscow did not immediately comment on the allegations. The Kremlin has denied Russia commits war crimes in Ukraine.

Kostin said this month that Kyiv was investigating alleged executions of 73 Ukrainian prisoners. In June, Ukraine opened an investigation of the suspected beheading of one of its servicemen by Russian forces.



(Reporting by Yuliia Dysa, Editing by Timothy Heritage, William Maclean)