President’s Office: Video showing beheading of Ukrainian soldier released for intimidation purposes

The relevant statement was made by Advisor to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Daria Zarivna on Telegram, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

According to Zarivna, this video “finally dehumanizes and demonstrates the whole essence of the terrorist state of Russia”.

In her words, it is also Russia’s psychological operations (PSYOP) used for intimidation purposes.

“The target audience is not only Ukraine but also Western societies,” Zarivna added.

Nevertheless, such methods do not work with Ukrainians.

“This is what Russians are afraid of but not us,” Zarivna stressed.

A reminder that last week two videos were posted on social media, allegedly showing the beheadings of Ukrainian defenders. According to CNN, the videos appear to be of separate events. One of them may have been filmed very recently, while the other – from the amount of foliage seen on the ground – looks like it was filmed during the summer.

The first video was posted by a pro-Russian social media channel on April 8, 2023. It was filmed by Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group and shows the beheaded corpses of two Ukrainian soldiers lying on the ground next to a destroyed military vehicle. Russian sources claim that this video came from near Bakhmut.

The second video was posted on Twitter and is heavily blurred. It looks to have been filmed during the summer because of the amount of plant life on the ground. The video shows a Russian fighter using a knife to cut off the head of a Ukrainian soldier.