Of course, these images are being distributed not least via Kremlin-affiliated Telegram channels in order to defame the people of Ukraine. But that doesn’t make the content of the videos any better. Young men tied to traffic signs who are also beaten to their humiliation. The attacks against their own civilian population do not reflect well on the troops of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

In the spring, the authorities were still trying to justify these actions. The police forces would not be sufficient in the current situation, a Kiev official was quoted by the Strana news site as saying. “A looter must understand that he will get what he deserves in any case: first he will be tied to a pole and then he will certainly be imprisoned for ten years… He will understand that the punishment is here and now.” Also be it an educational measure for others.