Story By:  Ana Marjanovic, Sub-Editor: Michael Leidig, Agency:  Newsflash

A thug who bought a peacock so he could slaughter it with his bare hands in front of his drunken pals has been warned he faces up to eight years in jail.

A shocking video of the killing shows bare-chested Konstantin Ursulyan, 18, so drunk he can hardly stand as he snatches the helpless bird by the neck.

Then – swinging it through the air – he brings the peacock crashing down onto the ground in front of his baying, cheering friends in Ukraine.

He smashes the bird repeatedly until it stops moving before grinning broadly to his pals.

Dressed in just a pair of black swimming trunks, he holds his hands up to his cronies, looking for applause.

Neither the person filming nor any of the others watching did anything to stop him.

The horrific killing took place in the village of Karapchiv in Ukraine’s Chernivtsi Oblast on 3rd June.

The region is on the war-torn country’s borders with Romania and Moldova and is so far untouched by the Russian invasion.

The young man had boasted to his friends that he could kill a peacock with his bare hands, according to reports.

After the video made its way onto the internet, Ursulyan was exposed as the killer.

Chernivtsi Oblast Police said in a statement on 20th June: “During monitoring of social networks, National Police officers in Chernivtsi Oblast found a post saying that a boy had beaten a peacock on the ground, with the bird dying as a result.

“Bukovina law enforcement officers are investigating the circumstances of and motive for this crime. The offender faces up to eight years in prison.

“Officers from police station No. 5 (Hlyboka village) of the Chernivtsi District Police Department interviewed participants and found that an 18-year-old resident of the village of Karapchiv had bought a peacock in advance and intentionally injured it while on holiday with friends.

“The peacock died from its injuries.

“After learning about this act from social networks, the police identified all the people in the incident.

“Investigators entered the information into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations under Article 299 (Animal Cruelty) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

“The issue of notifying the offender of the accusation and choosing a measure of restraint is currently being resolved.

“A pre-trial investigation is underway.”