London, Jul 29 (IANS): A horrifying video has emerged appearing to show a Ukrainian prisoner of war being castrated by his Russian captors, the media reported.

The footage shows a group of men wearing Russian camouflage pinning a soldier in Ukrainian fatigues down and using a box-cutting knife to remove his genitals and then hold them up to the camera, Daily Mail reported.

It is unclear exactly when or where the footage was taken, but some of the Russian soldiers who appear in it were filmed on the frontlines in Donbas back in June. Ukrainian MP Inna Sovsun tweeted the footage, saying: "Russia has to pay for it.

"Give Ukraine the weapons we need to stop this nightmare once and for all. The world can't pretend like this is not happening."

It is also unclear what happened to the Ukrainian soldier in the video but it is unlikely he survived his injuries without immediate medical attention.

Aric Toler, from investigative website Bellingcat has told The Times, UK that the video is likely genuine.

There is no evidence that the video has been manipulated, he said, pointing to Russian state media that showed some of the same Russian soldiers in the city of Severodonetsk back in June - shortly after it was captured from Ukraine.

Internet users are now attempting to identify the soldier seen doing the castrating, and believe he may have come from a Chechen unit that ultimately falls under the command of Vladimir Putin crony Ramzan Kadyrov, Daily Mail reported.

Others have suggested the camouflage he is wearing is from a Rosgvardia unit - Russian national guard that report directly to Putin.