Ukraine s security services have concluded that the prisoner of war killed by Russian soldiers in a clip that spread quickly across Ukraine and much of the world is Oleksandr Igorevich Matsievskyi, bringing an end to the dispute over his identity.
A detained combatant is seen standing in a shallow trench smoking a cigarette in the graphic 12 second clip that first circulated on Telegram last Monday. A soldier in uniform with a Ukrainian flag insignia on his arm says Glory to Ukraine and is apparently shot by a group of Russian soldiers with automatic weapons.
The video, allegedly posted by Russian soldiers to Telegram, has led to a war crimes investigation and, within Ukraine, a search for the identity of a man hailed as a national hero and symbol of resistance.
The Ukrainian military initially named the soldier as Tymofiy Shadura of the 30th Separate Mechanized Brigade but cautioned that a final confirmation could not be made until the body had been recovered from Russian-controlled territory.
He went missing on February 3 at Bakhmut, where fierce trench warfare had raged for seven months, killing thousands, according to the 30th Separate Mechanized Brigade.
Some Ukrainian media and bloggers, however, claimed that the murdered man was Oleksandr Igorevich Matsievskyi, 42, who was also sent to Bakhmut in November.
The Security Service of Ukraine said on Sunday that the soldier in the video is Oleksandr Matsievskyi, after a forensic photo examination. This is the result of a series of investigative actions, which included communication with relatives and relatives of the deceased, as well as the processing of photos and video materials. This man is a real hero who, despite his death, showed to the whole world what Ukrainian character and indomitability are. Later on Sunday, Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on Twitter that he had awarded Matsievskyi the title of hero of Ukraine A soldier and a man who will forever be remembered. For his bravery, for his faith in Ukraine, and for his Glory to Ukraine! Zelenskiy said something.