Almost 300 people were buried in a mass grave in Bucha, a city on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, confirmed its mayor this Saturday after the Ukrainian army regain control of Russia's key city.
“In Bucha, we have already buried 280 people in mass graves,” said Anatoly Fedoruk. According to him, the streets of the city, heavily destroyed, are full of corpses.
There were bodies with their hands tied behind their backs, the AFP news agency said. The bodies were scattered over several hundred meters, with no known cause of death so far.
Russian troops recently withdrew from several locations near Kiev, having failed in their attempt to surround the capital. The Ukrainian authorities proclaimed that Bucha had been “liberated”.
After the news that came out this Saturday, the international community was shocked and many leaders described what happened in Bucha as a war crime.
The head of the European Union, Charles Michel, promised this Sunday more sanctions against Moscow by condemning the “atrocities” carried out by Russian forces outside the Ukrainian capital, Kiev.
“Shocked by the disturbing images of the atrocities committed by the Russian army in the liberated region of Kiev #BuchaMassacre,” the head of the European Council, Michel, wrote on Twitter.
“The EU is helping Ukraine and NGOs gather the evidence necessary for their prosecution in international courts,” he said.
Meanwhile, German Deputy Chancellor and Minister of Economy Robert Habeck denounced a “terrible war crime” perpetrated in Bucha, near the Ukrainian capital, and called for the European Union (EU) countries to adopt new sanctions against Russia.
“This terrible war crime cannot go unanswered,” said the environmental minister in the German daily Bild, the day after the discovery of numerous bodies in Bucha, northwest Kiev, after Russian forces were retaken.
“I think it is appropriate to strengthen sanctions. This is what we are preparing with our EU partners,” he added.
Minutes later, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called Bucha's images “unbearable”. “Putin's excessive violence destroys innocent families and knows no limit,” the head of German diplomacy tweeted, assuring that “those responsible for these war crimes” will be “held accountable.”
“We are going to strengthen sanctions against Russia and support Ukraine more in its defense,” he said, without giving further details.
For her part, British Foreign Minister Liz Truss denounced the “appalling acts” committed by the Russian army against civilians in Ukraine and called for a “war crimes investigation”.
Russian troops are withdrawing from the area and “we see increasing evidence of the appalling acts committed by the invading forces in cities like Irpin and Bucha,” Truss said in a statement.
These “indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilians” must be the subject of a “war crimes investigation,” he added.
The Israeli ambassador to Ukraine, Michael Brodsky, also condemned Sunday the killing of civilians by Russian forces in Bucha and called it a “war crime”.
“I am deeply affected by Bucha's photographs. The killing of civilians is a war crime and cannot be justified,” Brodsky posted on Twitter.
Another one who raised its voice was the government of Italy. Its foreign minister, Luigi di Maio, assured that the “atrocities” committed by Russia “cannot go unpunished.”
“The existence of war crimes must be investigated as soon as possible. These atrocities cannot go unpunished,” said Di Maio, who was impressed by the “chilling images of Bucha” on his social media.
“Corps of Ukrainian civilians on the ground, killed, with their hands tied. Cruelty, death, horror,” added the head of Italian diplomacy, who assured that his country is “next to the Ukrainian people” and that “the Russian war must be stopped.”
After the Europeans, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken demonstrated, who said that the sight of multiple civilian bodies scattered on the streets of Bucha in Ukraine is “a blow to the stomach”.
“You can't help but see these images as a punch in the stomach,” Blinken told CNN a day after horrific images of the city recovered from Russian forces were widely disseminated.
“This is the reality of what is happening every day as Russia's brutality against Ukraine continues,” he added.
The International Criminal Court has recently opened an investigation into possible war crimes committed in Ukraine, and some Western leaders, including US President Joe Biden, called Vladimir Putin a “war criminal.”
The Ukrainian president, Volodymir Zelensky, also accused Russian soldiers of planting mines and other traps as they withdrew from northern Ukraine.
“They are leaving behind a complete disaster and many dangers (...) First, air strikes could continue. Second, they are mining the entire territory, mining houses, equipment, even the bodies of people they killed,” Zelensky said Saturday in a video message.
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