KYIV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s military on Tuesday identified a soldier who it said was shot dead by “Russian invaders” in a video spread on social media, and hailed him as a hero whose death would be avenged.
In a Facebook post, the 30th Mechanized Brigade named the man as Tymofiy Shadura. It said he had been missing since Feb. 3 after hostilities around the eastern city of Bakhmut, scene of some of the heaviest fighting of the war in Ukraine.
Formal confirmation would be made once his body was returned from territory occupied by Russian forces, said the brigade, which is part of Ukraine’s Ground Forces.
The 12-second video shows an apparently unarmed man in a uniform with a Ukrainian flag insignia on his arm standing and smoking a cigarette in a wooded area.
The man says “Slava Ukraini!” – or Glory to Ukraine – beforemultiple shots are heard coming from an unseen shooter orshooters. The man slumps to the ground as bullets appear to hithis body. A voice is heard saying “Die, bitch” in Russian.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the video showed Russian occupiers killing a soldier, and the man was quickly hailed by Ukrainians as a hero across social media, where many users posted “Heroyam Slava” in response.
“According to preliminary information, the deceased is a serviceman of the 30th separate mechanized brigade, Tymofiy Mykolayovych Shadura,” the brigade’s Facebook post said.
“The command of the 30th separate mechanized brigade and the Hero’s brothers express their sincere condolences to his relatives and friends. Revenge for our Hero will be inevitable. Glory to Ukraine! Glory to heroes!” it said.
CRIMINAL CASE
The “Glory to Ukraine” phrase and the response “HeroyamSlava”, or “Glory to the Heroes”, has been a hallmark ofpost-Soviet Ukraine, but it has taken on special significance asa common greeting in public life since the start of the war.
Reuters was not immediately able to verify the authenticity,date or location of the video. Russia’s Defence Ministry did not immediately respond to a query about it.
A lawyer who was wounded in battle last year said he was collecting money for a reward to anyone who identified those responsible. He personally pledged $1,000.
Ukrainian authorities did not say where or when the shootingoccurred.
Within hours, #GloryToUkraine became one of the top trendinghashtags on Twitter.
Andriy Kostin, Ukraine’s prosecutor general, said Ukraine’s security service had registered the shooting as a criminal case under a part of the criminal code that covers violations of war laws and customs.
Ukrainian and Western authorities say there is evidence forthousands of war crimes committed in Ukraine since Russiainvaded in February, 2022. Russia has repeatedly denied that itsforces have committed atrocities or attacked civilians.
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk, Writing by Timothy Heritage, Editing by Ed Osmond)
