Russia-Ukraine war: Zelenskyy gives posthumous award to Ukrainian soldier shot dead in video on social media

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave a posthumous award to a Ukrainian soldier who was shot dead in a video circulating on social media. The honor follows the Ukrainian military’s confirmation of the identity of the soldier in the video.

Zelenskyy announced that he was bestowing a posthumous honor to Ukrainian soldier Oleksandr Matsievsky during his nightly video address on Sunday. Matsievsky was a sniper who was part of a unit in Chernihiv in northern Ukraine. The Ukrainian military confirmed the soldier’s identity prior to Zelenskyy’s announcement.

“Today, I have bestowed the title of Hero of Ukraine on soldier Oleksandr Matsievsky,” said Zelenskyy. “A man that all Ukrainians will know. A man who will forever be remembered. For his bravery, for his confidence in Ukraine, and for his ‘glory to Ukraine.’”

In the video shared on social media, a soldier who had the Ukrainian flag on his uniform was shown smoking a cigarette and saying “Glory to Ukraine” before being shot dead. A voice off-camera could then be heard saying, “die, bitch.”

The German news outlet Bild said its reporter has spoken to Matsievsky’s mother, Paraska.

“He stood there unarmed but proud to be Ukrainian. He was always incredibly brave. At this moment, the only weapon he could defend himself with was to say: ‘Slava Ukraini!’” said Paraska, according to the news outlet.

The British defense ministry said on Monday that the head of the Russian Wagner mercenary group Yevgeny Prigozhin had lost access to recruiting fighters in Russian prisons due to his dispute with the Russian defense ministry. Prigozhin is turning to recruit Russian citizens to fight on the ground in Ukraine.

“Since the start of March 2023, Wagner has set up outreach teams based in sports centers in at least 40 locations across Russia. In recent days, masked Wagner recruiters also gave career talks in Moscow high schools, distributing questionnaires entitled ‘application of a young warrior’ to collect the contact details of interested pupils,” said the ministry.

The ministry added that half the prisoners that the private paramilitary group has recruited to fight in Ukraine have since become casualties. However, the new approach by Wagner would not likely make up for the loss of manpower. Should Prigozhin continue to be banned, the Wagner chief would likely resort to rolling back the extent of its operations in Ukraine.