Terrifying footage captured the painful show of support as the shirtless man was branded by the hot iron. In the video, the man braced himself by leaning back against a piece of scrap metal, closing his eyes and holding onto his legs. The letter ‘Z’, which was branded onto him, has become a sinister symbol marking support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The video comes after a Ukrainian prisoner of war was mutilated and brutally murdered by Russian soldiers.
Ukrainian MP Inna Sovsun shared a now-deleted video on Twitter of the prisoner’s genitals being cut off.
She wrote: “Russian soldier from Chechen battalion Ahmat cut off the genitals of Ukrainian POW.
“This is what Nazis are doing to Ukrainians.
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“Russia has to pay for it!
“Give Ukraine the weapons we need to stop this nightmare once and for all. The world can’t pretend like this isn’t happening!”
She later revealed that her account was banned by Twitter for the distressing content.
Ms Sovsun wrote: “witter banned my profile today. Because I posted a video where a Russian soldier castrates a Ukrainian POW.
“Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba calls on the international community to condemn the brutal violation of international law by the Russian Federation and to immediately recognize Russia as a terrorist state
“He emphasised that any delay in this decision will only encourage Russia to commit further crimes and inhumane acts.”
Russia has been accused of committing thousands of war crimes since their invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
The International Criminal Court has described Ukraine as a “crime scene”, sending its largest ever team to investigate.
