This disturbing incident captured a Russian official smirking while hearing about the tragic loss of a Ukrainian father who lost his wife and three daughters in a Russian strike on civilians.
The footage shows him holding an evil grin as he listened to the desperately sad tale of death and destruction.
Ukrainian official, Daria Zarivna, recounted to the UN Security Council the traumatic story of Yaroslav Bazylevych, 43.
The Ukrainian man’s world was torn apart as he mourned the deaths of his wife Evgeniya, 43, and his three daughters – Yarina, 21, Daria, 18, and Emilia, 6 – when their home in Lviv was hit by a missile.
When the camera cuts to the Russian diplomat Roman Kashaev, 43, a nasty smile can clearly be seen twisting his face, as if he finds it amusing.
Zarivna’s voice was charged with emotion as she told the council: “A Russian missile took four lives from one family.
“Evgeniya Bazylevych and her three daughters were gone in a moment.
“The youngest, Emilia, was just six.
“We can hardly imagine their father’s sorrow.
“Those weren’t military targets, those were homes many kilometres far from the front lines.
“Ordinary people.
“Children.”
Putin’s representative smirked as she recounted the tragedy, and he cracked into a full-blown evil grin at the end.
The video shows him taking a sip of water in an effort to hold back his laugher.
Zarivna continued: “Some things can no longer be changed.
“Russia will never be able to alter its authorship [of] the atrocities committed in Ukraine.”
Zarivna also drew attention to Russia’s ongoing severe violations of Ukrainian children’s rights, including acts such as killings, sexual offenses, illegal adoptions, and the recruitment of young Ukrainians into the military.
The Centre for Strategic Communications and Information Security in Kyiv branded Kashaev’s reaction “a cynical smile”.
“His indifference only confirms that terror is a part of the Kremlin‘s state policy.”
Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Centre for Countering Disinformation in Kyiv, said: “The name of this Russian thug […] at the UN Security Council is Roman Kashaev.
“He found it amusing to hear about the murders and kidnappings of Ukrainian children by the Russian army.
“There’s a good saying: ‘For enemies, there will be a blade’.”
The grieving husband and father – who was cooking for the family when the missile hit – has since posted on Facebook: “I was the richest, happiest husband and father.
“I had a treasure and always understood that the treasure is to have such friendly and responsible, hard-working, beautiful, intelligent, patriotic children with such initiative.
“I am proud of them and continue to be proud.
“They were supposed to have everything ahead, each of them.
“In one moment, I lost that multifaceted feeling that all four of them, each in their own way, gave me throughout our shared life.
“Today I have the best, happiest, most wonderful memories…
“The rest has been amputated.”
He has created a scholarship fund in their memory “so that the world remembers their names”.
When his family were killed by the Putin missile, the horror was seen around the world.
They were among the 7 people killed in Vladimir Putin’s on Lviv in September – a day after 51 people were killed at a military institute in the central city of Poltova.
