The killing of Zaur Gurtsiev.

ROBIN HORSFALL

JUN 01, 2025

Murder, Assassination, Revenge.

The killing of Zaur Gurtsiev.

Zaur Gurtsiev, 34, was a senior officer in the Russian army who received medals for participating in attacks on Mariupol in 2022/23. He had retired from the army to become a city official and was due to be appointed to Stavropol’s regional administration.

Gurtsiev, led attacks that killed as many as 8,000 Ukrainian people in Mariupol. Earlier this week he was killed by a ‘suicide bomber.’ Video evidence shows a calm, young man walking up to Gurtsiev in the street and igniting a grenade or small satchel of explosives slung over his neck and shoulders.

Gurtsiev apparently feeling unthreatened, stood still and waited for the man to come to him. What was striking was the calm, slow approach of the assassin. No rush, no stares no excitement just a slow steady stroll towards death. He said a few words to Gurtsiev and exploded his device.

What motivates a man or woman to die in such circumstances?

Heartache, anger, revenge, ideology, hatred, coercion, blackmail, bribery, and humiliation come as part of a list. Some people kill because they enjoy it, others because they are obeying orders.

When Ukrainian soldiers of British descent, Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, and Moroccan, Brahim Saaudun were captured in 2022 and sentenced to death for being ‘mercenaries’ fighting for Ukraine, I wrote a strong warning, saying anyone and everyone involved in their executions would have no hiding place. Everyone involved would all have no place to hide for the rest of their lives. The international courts would find them. Whether my words made a difference I will never know, I was another voice in a sea of protests, but they were returned later that year in a prisoner swap.

It seems the murder or assassination of Russian officials involved in war crimes has become an acceptable response by Ukraine. We know from direct experience in the UK that Putin frequently orders acts of assassination, so he has no grounds on which to found moral protests. Ukraine is prepared to take revenge for atrocities that are cold blooded, unnecessary, and vindictive. The wilful murder of civilians in Bucha who were simply standing on the sidewalks, shelling of civilian apartment blocks and murder of prisoners of war, are all crimes that deserve retribution even if diplomats do not publicly laud such actions, they certainly do not condemn them.

The political effects of such acts can be double edged. Once a campaign of assassination begins, no party in either side can consider themselves safe. It is an unwritten understanding that political leaders do not assassinate one another. When leaders are constantly removed by murder it leaves no one to negotiate peace.

War, ideologies, and politics have a way of smoothing themselves out when wars end. The soldier willing to risk his life for his country returns to his farm, the politician grows old and dies; the children grow up in a new world and fortunately or unfortunately, forget the past.

Ideology.

The hardest killings for a reasonable person to comprehend and justify are those carried out for ideological agendas. People from many persuasions can be convinced that a tribe, religion, race, or nation are evil, placing a group characteristic into a single category ‘the enemy’ no matter how decent they become ‘others.’ The ignorant follow the leader, happily absolving themselves of all responsibility. Hitler blamed Jews, Idi Amin blamed Asians, Catholics blamed protestants, Hindus blamed Muslims Marx blamed religion ‘The Opium of the masses.’

Martin Luther King Jr and Mahatma Ghandi advocated peaceful resistance, they were murdered, one for race the other for religion both by, belief, ignorance, and stupidity. The killers believed they were acting for the benefit of their groups.

Anger and humiliation.

Uncontrolled anger in a moment of passion can cause a death, often regretted but always too late. We learn in life not to push people too far, no matter how right or powerful we think we are. The consequences are unpredictable. When expanded this guidance applies equally to international politics as Donald Trump is currently discovering to his cost. People never forget humiliation.

Patriotism.

Many political parties love the word ‘patriotism’ to coerce people into identifying with their national group. A separate, special group that knows the truth and who can inoculate against an imagined infection. For the Germans in the 1930’s it was the Jews, for some modern groups it is Christians or Muslims. Oscar Wilde said, ‘Patriotism is the last hiding place of a scoundrel’ and to some extent that is true, not so much for the man or women that love their family and their home but those who wrap themselves in a flag and claim that they hold the moral high ground. Such groups easily persuade inadequate people to commit murder ‘for the cause.’

Revenge

People are assassinated for many political reasons reaching far back into history, even as far as Julius Caeser, but hatred and revenge are persistent. The old Serbian adage about a man explaining why he killed his neighbour answers, ‘He killed my great-grandfathers goat.’ This expresses how resentments fester and are turned into wars. We are encouraged in many religions to ‘let it go.’ I not sure forgiveness is the same thing, nor am I sure forgiveness is a reasonable request but to accept that it happened and move on? Perhaps.

The same cannot be said for those who have been tortured, humiliated, or most importantly have lost wives, husbands, and children to unjustified acts of brutality. They cannot forgive or forget, their losses are too great. Among the many who have learned the arts of war there will be those who have the desire, and also the tools and skills to gain satisfaction. Their pain and loss is so great they are often willing to die to deny everything to the criminal who hurt them.

The vengeful ones are the most dangerous of assassins. They will die for their cause. No matter how much time has passed the war criminal must live knowing one day their past actions might catch up with them. Revenge and hatred are terrible emotions. When people hate enough, they might even attack the innocents the war criminal loves. Evil begets evil.

Joachim Peiper was one of Himmler’s SS proteges. He was directly responsible for massacres of civilians in Russia, Poland, Greece and of American POWs in France. Captured and sentenced to death his sentence was commuted to life, but he was released after five years and eventually settled in France. In 1976 he was murdered in his home after a fire fight. Someone caught up with him and no one (in France at least) looked too hard for his killers. We all have quite an ambiguous view of killing when it is examined closely. Peiper was an ardent Nazi, but his crimes were gradually washed over by subtle media messaging and possibly his good looks. Yes, for them, no for us, is the convenient trend. It causes us to constantly question right and wrong.

Morality of execution.

Some claim that all killing is wrong, but when pressed agree killing is acceptable in self-defence and the defence of others. Our laws support this, but only just. This subject gets deeper and complicated when we have armies to defend us. The UK is probably the only nation in the world that sends troops to war and then proactively pursues them for not fighting the wars nicely enough. In contrast, other nations ignore obvious war crimes such as those currently being perpetrated by Russia in Ukraine, and by Israel in Gaza. The USA allowed the murders at My Lai, Vietnam to go almost unpunished when Lieutenant William Calley Jr, the leader of 1st Platoon in C Company, was convicted of murdering twenty-two villagers and was given a life sentence but served only three-and-a-half years under house arrest after U.S. president Richard Nixon commuted his sentence.

To one side in a conflict the murder of officials is ‘terrorism’ to the other a justified act of revenge. Crimes they undoubtedly are, but most nations are loath to investigate and prosecute the killers of persons responsible for genocidal acts, – unless it is politically expedient.

Murders for revenge are symbolic and cathartic, offering satisfaction, justice, and closure to victims. However, as previously stated they encourage a similar response from the other side. The bombing of Margaret Thatcher’s Government in 1984 in a Brighton Hotel was a victory for the Provisional IRA but is never changed the direction of the Thatcher Government or the conduct of operations in Northern Ireland. Despite the attack Thatcher refused to respond in kind and denied requests to kill known terrorist leaders.

Are the people who support Ukraine sorry Gurtsiev has been ‘punished’ for his atrocious actions in Mariupol? –

No, of course not. –

Are the Russian angry about it? –

Yes, maybe, but not a lot. –

Will it affect the war in Ukraine? –

No! –

Is it satisfying to see an evil man removed from the face of the earth? –

Yes, but it depends which side you are on.

What we can say is, those who murder Ukrainians face a very uncertain future.

We have legal process to deal with war criminals to obtain closure and prevent continued retribution. When law isn’t trusted or successful, people will take law into their own hands. Justice is not only the cessation of violence it is the cessation of injustice and justice must by necessity, be seen to be done.

Robin Horsfall

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