Shock and horror over alleged civilian killings
BUCHA: Ukraine and Western nations on Sunday accused Russian troops of war crimes after the discovery of mass graves and “executed” civilians near Kyiv, prompting vows of action at the International Criminal Court.
Britain, France, Germany, the US and Nato all voiced horror at Ukrainian reports on Saturday of nearly 300 bodies lying in the street in Bucha, with some appearing to have been bound by their hands and feet before being shot.
City mayor Anatoly Fedoruk told AFP that 280 other bodies had been buried in mass graves. One rescue official said 57 people were found in one hastily dug trench behind a church. About
10 were either unburied or only partially covered by earth.
Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba called it a “deliberate massacre” while President Volodymyr Zelensky said Rusit sian “genocide”. forces were committing
“We found mass graves. We found people with their hands and with their legs tied up... and with shots, bullet holes, in the back of their head,” His spokesman, Sergiy Nikiforov told the BBC about the Bucha killings earlier. US secretary of state Antony Blinken called the killings “a punch to the gut” while Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg said the violence, unseen in Europe for decades, was “horrific” and “absolutely unacceptable”. Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the European Union all called for those responsible to be brought to book at the international tribunal in The Hague. Ukraine’s Kuleba called for G7 nations to impose immediate “devastating” sanctions against Russia as a result. But despite Western action targeting oligarchs and businesses -- and calls to go further -the Kremlin said it was not possible to isolate Russia entirely. “There can be no complete vacuum or isolation of Russia. It is technologically impossible in the modern world,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state television.
The world is “much larger than Europe”, he said, adding: “Sooner or later we will have to build a dialogue, whether some overseas want it or not.”
Human Rights Watch said Russian troops may have committed possible war crimes against civilians in occupied areas of Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Kyiv, including rape and summary execution.
Zelensky has also alleged Russian soldiers planted mines and other booby traps as they withdraw from northern Ukraine, warning returning residents to be wary of tripwires and other dangers.
Odessa hit
The war crimes claims came as the Black Sea port city of Odessa, which has largely been spared in the conflict, was hit by air strikes apparently targeting key infrastructure.
Russia’s defence ministry said had targeted an oil refinery and three fuel storage facilities with “high-precision sea and airbased missiles”. The depots were supplying fuel to Ukrainian troops, it added. Anton Herashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister, said: “Some of the missiles were shot down by air defence.”
Peace talks
On peace talks, Russia’s chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said it was too early for a toplevel meeting between Zelensky and Putin on ending the conflict.
He said Kyiv had become “more realistic” in its approach to issues related to the neutral and non-nuclear status of Ukraine but a draft agreement for submission to a summit meeting was not yet ready.
His Ukrainian counterpart, David Arakhamia, had said on Saturday that Moscow had “verbally” agreed to key Ukrainian proposals, raising hopes that talks to end fighting were moving forward. Medinsky said Russia’s position on Crimea and the Donbas “remains unchanged” and that talks would resume by video conference on Monday.