All Ukrainian cities and Crimea must and will be part of Ukraine again, Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba said yesterday, adding that a real peace would come by restoring the country’s borders.
“There is no difference between ... any Ukrainian city, they all must and will be Ukraine again,” he told a Black Sea security conference in Bucharest.
Kuleba made the statement a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy denounced Russian “beasts” after a video appeared to show the beheading of a Ukrainian prisoner of war (POW), prompting international outrage.
Photo: AP
The emergence of the disturbing footage, which Agence France-Presse was unable to independently verify, sparked fury in Ukraine, with Kyiv saying that Russia is “worse than ISIS” — an acronym for the Islamic State militant group.
The EU pledged to hold war criminals to account, while a UN mission in Ukraine said it was “appalled.”
The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine also pointed to another video spreading online, saying it “shows mutilated bodies of apparent Ukrainian POWs.”
It was not clear when or where the video was filmed.
Ukrainian authorities said they were trying to identify the beheading victim.
Moscow and Kyiv have repeatedly accused each other of killing prisoners of war since Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops to invade Ukraine more than a year ago.
A number of videos alleging to show killings of prisoners have made the rounds on the Internet over the past year.
Following the emergence of the new video, Zelenskiy said in an address posted to social media that “the world must see” what he called an “execution” of a Ukrainian captive.
“There is something that no one in the world can ignore: how easily these beasts kill,” the grim-faced Ukrainian president said. “We won’t forget anything, nor will we forgive murderers.”
The video, which lasts 1 minute, 40 seconds, shows a masked man in camouflage decapitating another man in uniform.
After the screams stop, other voices are heard encouraging the attacker in Russian.
After the man is decapitated, a voice is heard saying that the head should be sent “to the commander.”
The victim’s vest bearing the Ukrainian trident and a skull can also be seen in the footage.
Zelenskiy urged world leaders to act and help Ukraine defeat Russia as Kyiv’s forces prepare a counteroffensive after a months-long stalemate on the battlefield.
“We need to act now,” Zelenskiy said.
He echoed that message in virtual remarks to an IMF roundtable in Washington, where the global lender is holding its spring meetings.
“By rebuilding what has been ruined, we defeat the goal of terror, we return the normal life,” he said in English, reiterating a call for Russian assets to be put toward Ukraine’s reconstruction.
The roundtable was held after the World Bank earlier in the day announced a US$200 million grant to aid Ukraine in rebuilding its energy infrastructure, which has been badly damaged by Russian attacks.
Commenting on the beheading video, the EU said that, if confirmed, the footage was “yet another brutal reminder about the inhumane nature of the Russian aggression.”
“The EU reiterates its firm commitment to holding to account all perpetrators and accomplices of war crimes committed in connection with Russia’s war,” EU spokesperson for foreign affairs and security policy Nabila Massrali said.
Brussels did not have information on the veracity of the video, she added.
European Council President Charles Michel wrote on Twitter that he was “mortified by atrocious video,” while France condemned “a barbaric act” and “an unbearable attack on human dignity.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “First of all, the authenticity of this horrible footage needs to be verified. We live in a world of fakes.”
Top Ukrainian officials renewed calls to remove Russia from the UN Security Council (UNSC), in which it is a permanent member.
“It’s absurd that Russia, which is worse than ISIS, is presiding over the UNSC,” Kuleba said.
Russia this month holds the rotating Security Council presidency.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak warned against “any attempts to find a compromise with the terrorists.”
Russia had to be isolated from “the rest of the world,” he said.
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
DITCH TACTICS: Kenyan officers were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch suspected to have been deliberately dug by Haitian gang members A Kenyan policeman deployed in Haiti has gone missing after violent gangs attacked a group of officers on a rescue mission, a UN-backed multinational security mission said in a statement yesterday. The Kenyan officers on Tuesday were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch “suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs,” the statement said, adding that “specialized teams have been deployed” to search for the missing officer. Local media outlets in Haiti reported that the officer had been killed and videos of a lifeless man clothed in Kenyan uniform were shared on social media. Gang violence has left
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including
RSS