THE heartbroken mum of a Ukrainian prisoner killed by Russian troops after declaring “glory to Ukraine” insists Vladimir Putin ought to be tried for conflict crimes towards her son.
Harrowing footage showed unarmed Oleksandr Matsievskyi, 42, being riddled with machine gun bullets after taking a ultimate drag of his cigarette.
Moments before he was shot lifeless by Russian troopers, Matsievskyi shouted “Slava Ukraini”, which translates to “glory to Ukraine”.
Oleksandr’s devasted mom Paraska Demchuck, 67, advised how she watched the footage – only to then realise the brave soldier was her son.
Paraska, from Nizhyn in northern Ukraine,& advised how she cried out in shock after seeing the last moments of her solely son.
She informed The Sun: “I used to be informed in January that Oleksandr was missing.
“All I had been advised was that there had been a battle with Russians and he had disappeared.
“His physique was returned in early February as part of an trade of the fallen troopers at that was the first I knew of his demise.
“After which, as if from heaven, that video turned up. And I cried out ‘Sasha, Sasha’ – my identify for him.
“All the things happened like an epiphany – I needed to understand how my son died, after which I noticed it.”
Oleksandr and 4 colleagues engaged in fight with a bigger Russian contingent close to Soledar when he was captured on December 30.
He was filmed standing tall in a shallow trench smoking, before being shot a number of occasions.
The cold-blooded capturing of Oleksandr, an electrician by trade, is now the topic of a struggle crimes investigation.
Paraska added: “Once I noticed his look in the video, I realised there was nothing he might do. He understood this was the top.
“We once made an settlement that if he was wounded and was bleeding to dying, he would name me and tell me thrice: ‘Sure, sure, yes!’
“But in the video he stated, ‘Glory to Ukraine!’ And God gave me the chance to hear these words.”
Oleksandr, described as a hard-working, principled and protracted by his mom, signed as much as battle as soon as the warfare started.
She stated: “Sasha stated he could not sit again.
“His grandfather defended his homeland during World Conflict Two. So he went to struggle without hesitation.
“The final time I spoke with him was on December 29 – he referred to as me and stated I ought to decide up a package deal with a new uniform he had been given.
“He never acquired to put on it.”
President Zelensky posthumously bestowed the Hero of Ukraine medal upon the sniper and handed Paraska her son’s Hero of Ukraine award in a ceremony in Kyiv.
He described Oleksandr in a nightly tackle as “’a man whom all Ukrainians will know. A man who can be remembered eternally.”
‘PUTIN SHOULD FACE JUSTICE’
In Oleksandr’s hometown, Nizhyn, a plan is underway to name one of the streets after him. Additionally they need to erect a monument to the brave soldier.
Paraska in the present day welcomed the arrest warrant slapped on Putin for alleged war crimes – and stated her son’s demise ought to be added to the list.
The Worldwide Legal Courtroom has accused the& Russian& tyrant of& the “unlawful deportation” of children& from Ukraine – a& struggle crime& underneath the Geneva Conference.
However Paraska& hopes that Putin will in the future be referred to as to face justice over her son’s homicide.
She stated: “My son has develop into a logo of the indomitability of the Ukrainian individuals and for that I am extremely proud.
“We hope and consider that someday he'll bear duty for all the warfare crimes dedicated, together with the murder of Oleksandr.
“He is a warfare felony and he should face justice.”
An& investigation by The Sun into Ukraine’s missing children& again in September revealed that hundreds of youngsters have been deported throughout Putin’s invasion.
Ukraine’s human rights chief, Dmytro Lubinets, has stated 16,226 youngsters have been deported and the nation has managed to convey again simply 308 of them.
The Hague-based courtroom has now stated “there are affordable grounds to consider that Mr Putin bears particular person felony duty” for the crimes.
Ukraine hailed the arrest warrant as an “historic choice”.
Moscow has repeatedly denied accusations of atrocities during its disastrous one-year invasion of Ukraine.
Despite the warrant, Putin today broke cover as he was noticed in Crimea.
The& Russian& President made an appearance within the disputed& Ukrainian& territory of Crimea, which was illegally annexed by& Putin’s forces in 2014.
In the brief clip revealed on the Russian social media network VK, Putin, 70, might be seen strolling stiffly together with his head bowed.
He was proven opening an art faculty and a youngsters’s centre within the port city of Sevastopol.
