UPDATE - Ukrainian army identifies soldier allegedly executed on camera

UPDATES WITH COMMENTS FROM HEAD OF WAGNER

ISTANBUL (AA) - Ukraine on Tuesday said it identified a soldier allegedly executed in video footage that went viral on Monday.

"According to preliminary data, the deceased is a serviceman of the 30th separate mechanized brigade, Tymofiy Mykolayovych Shadura. Tymofiy Shadura has been considered missing since Feb. 3, 2023, after hostilities in the area of the city of Bakhmut," a statement by the country's military land forces said on Telegram.

The statement said that Shadura's body was still located in the territories of Ukraine under Russian control, and that final confirmation of his being shot would be announced once his body is returned and examined.

On Monday, a 12-second video appeared on social media showing the alleged execution of a captured and unarmed Ukrainian soldier who refused to remove his insignia with a Ukrainian flag and was later shot after saying: "Glory to Ukraine!"

"I want us all to respond to his words together, in unity: "Glory to the Hero! Glory to the Heroes! Glory to Ukraine," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a later evening address.

Commenting on the video on Telegram, Evgeny Prigozhin, head of the Russian private military company Wagner, questioned the credibility of the video.

"I hadn't seen this video, but after your request, I certainly did. Tell me, please, is there at least one confirmation that this was filmed near Bakhmut, at least one confirmation that the video is not staged, or at least some minimal proof of the involvement of the Wagner PMC (private military company)?" Prigozhin said.

He promised to investigate the circumstances in the video "in the most detailed way."