Zelenskyy hails soldier blasted on-camera with machine gun as 'Hero of Ukraine'

Bakhmut: Ukrainian soldier whose machine gun execution by Russian troops was captured on camera was awarded Hero of Ukraine honour from President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Sunday.Following rumours about his identity after the gruesome video documenting his death was uploaded, the soldier was finally identified as Oleksandr Igorevich Matsievskyi by the Ukraine Security Services.Zelenskiy claimed that Matsievskyi had come to represent resistance to the Ukrainian people in his nightly speech.Oleksandr Matsievskyi, a fighter, was awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine today, he said. "A guy that every Ukrainian will recognise. A person who will ‘live on’ in memory. For his courage, his faith in Ukraine, and his exclamation of "Glory to Ukraine!" A captured combatant was seen smoking a cigarette in the graphic 12-second footage, which was first shared on Telegram last Monday. He stood on a small trench. Glory to Ukraine! The uniformed soldier exclaims before being shot with what appear to be automatic weapons by a squad of Russian troops.A war crimes investigation and a hunt for the identity of a man hailed as a national hero and symbol of resistance in Ukraine have been sparked by the video, which was reportedly uploaded to Telegram by Russian troops.The soldier was originally identified as Tymofiy Shadura of the 30th Separate Mechanized Brigade by the Ukrainian military on Tuesday, but they cautioned that a final confirmation could not be made until the body had been recovered from the Russia-occupied territory.He vanished on February 3rd near Bakhmut, where fierce trench combat had been raging for seven months and claimed thousands of lives.However, some Ukrainian media and bloggers asserted that Oleksandr Igorevich Matsievskyi, 42, who was also dispatched to Bakhmut in November, was the victim.The Security Service of Ukraine stated on Twitter on Sunday, "We have received the results of a forensic photo examination, which verified that the soldier in the video is Oleksandr Matsievskyi. Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.