Image of the skull of a Ukrainian prisoner of war stuck on a pole

• A new image posted by Ukrainian authorities appears to show the skull of a Ukrainian soldier impaled with a stick.
• The news came after the recent bombing of a prison in Olenivka, Donetsk region, which killed 53 prisoners.
• This report contains details that some readers may find offensive.

A new image posted by a Ukrainian official appears to show the skull of a Ukrainian prisoner of war placed on a pole outside a building in the eastern Ukraine town of Popasna, which was captured by Russian forces in May.

Serhiy Haidai, governor of Ukraine’s Luhansk region, shared a disturbing photo on his Telegram channel. Insiders were unable to independently verify the images.

According to The Guardian, geolocation tools suggest it’s real, and the gruesome photo was taken in late July, not far from central Popasna.

Near the head is the remains of a decapitated body, without hands and wearing a uniform. According to The Guardian, the video shows his hands resting on metal spikes on the fence on either side of his head.

“There is nothing human about the Russians. We are at war with non-humans,” Haidai said below the image.

Popsana is located in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine, where Russia has fought hard to gain territory after the humiliation of Russian forces after a fiasco in the first months of the invasion. Ukrainian forces withdrew from the town in his early May. Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov claimed that his forces had taken control of the town, according to The Guardian.

New atrocity allegations follow the shelling of Olenivka prison, which houses Ukrainian prisoners of war. Russia and Ukraine to blame each other.

Photos of the shelling show burned corpses and skeletal remains.

According to prisoners recently released from the Olenivka detention center outside Donetsk, Ukrainian captives have been tortured and killed.

“We heard their cries,” Anna Volosheva told The Guardian. “They played loud music to cover up their screams. Torture was constant.”

Reuters/Alexander Ermochenko

Shortly after the bombing, a video circulating on social media showed Russian soldiers castrating a Ukrainian prisoner.

A Ukrainian parliamentarian told Insider: “I wish I could have turned back time and not watched this video. But I knew this was happening in the occupied territories. Russian forces raped Ukrainians, both civilians and prisoners of war, They cut off their limbs and kill them.”

“This horrific attack is a clear example of the Russian military’s complete disregard for human life and dignity in Ukraine,” said Marie Struthers, director of Eastern Europe and Central Asia at Amnesty International. Stated.

Meanwhile, the head of Amnesty International’s Ukraine branch reportedly resigned after human rights groups accused Kyiv of endangering civilians and violating international law with its wartime tactics.

The group said the Ukrainian army had set up military outposts in schools, hospitals and civilian areas in violation of international human rights law.

Oksana Pokharchuk, head of Amnesty International Ukraine, said in a Facebook post late Friday that the report had “become a tool for Russian propaganda,” according to Politico.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the report, saying it called for “pardoning the terrorist state and shifting the blame from the perpetrators to the victims.”

Amnesty International “fully supports our research,” Amnesty International’s secretary-general Agnes Calamar told AFP news agency.