Gruesome footage of a Russian mercenary holding a skull he claims is a Ukrainian soldier killed in battle has been shared online.
The clip shows pro-Putin fighter Igor Mangushev going on a rant calling for the Ukrainian population to be killed.
It was shared by journalist Denys Kazanskyy and The Centre for Strategic Communication and Information Security under the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine.
During the rant Mangushev claims the remains comes from a soldier who was killed in the battle for Azovstal iron and steel workers, The Star reports.
In the video, which has captioned translations, an irate Mangushev says: “We don’t care how many we have to kill them. If we were at war with people we could make peace with them.
"But we are at war with the idea, so all bearers of an idea must be killed like this guy.
"There can be no peace. We must de-Ukrainise Ukraine. Let him burn in hell.
"He wasn’t lucky. We’ll make a goblet out of his skull."
An audience member to the rant interjects to ask the mercenary that the skull wasn't from a civilian.
Mangushev replied: "This is definitely not a civilian, we killed him ourselves."
Another person shouted out: "Did he understand what the 'Russian world' is?"
"I think he did,” Mangushev replied.
The video sparked backlash and criticism online.
Ukrainian journalist Denys Kazanskyy tweeted: “In his speech, Mangushev said that Russia is at war with the Ukrainian idea, so all Ukrainians must be killed. Still think trading with Russia is a good idea?”
On Reddit, one person suggested the militant Putin supporter could be targeted, writing: “So are you guys thinking what I’m thinking about this dude's future?”
While another commented “I give it a week before a sniper or something much more explody in nature claims this vile trash”.
