A pre-trial investigation into the violation of the laws and customs of war, combined with premeditated murder (Part 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) has been launched over the dissemination of a video with the decapitation of probably a Ukrainian defender, the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine (PGO) has said on Saturday.

"On August 16, a video was made public in social media, in which representatives of Russia show the head of an alleged Ukrainian military officer, impaled on a stake. As part of the investigation, the guards of order are conducting urgent investigative actions aimed at verifying this information and related circumstances," it said on the Telegram channel.

The PGO also noted that the distribution of such a video by representatives of the Russian Federation "once again demonstrates their complete disregard for the norms and principles of international humanitarian law."