LAST UPDATE | 4 Apr 2022
RUSSIA FACED A fresh wave of condemnation after evidence emerged of what appeared to be deliberate killings of civilians in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made his first reported foray outside Kyiv since the war began, meeting residents in Bucha, located northwest of the capital.
He denounced the killings as “genocide” and “war crimes”.
The images of corpses lying in the Kyiv suburb’s streets unleashed a wave of outrage that could signal a turning point after six weeks of war unleashed by Russia.
Some western leaders called for further sanctions in response to the alleged atrocities, even as Moscow continued to press its offensive in Ukraine’s east.
European allies, though united in outrage, appeared split on how to respond. Poland, which is on Ukraine’s border and has taken in large numbers of refugees, angrily singled out France and Germany for not taking more strident action and urged Europe to quickly wean itself off Russian energy, while Berlin said it would take a longer-term approach.
🔊@ZelenskyyUa:
— Defence of Ukraine (@DefenceU) April 4, 2022
With my own eyes I saw Bucha, Irpin, Stoyanka after the occupation. We will do our best to bring them back to life as soon as possible. pic.twitter.com/YKDhSKYbd5
Ukrainian officials said the bodies of 410 civilians were found in towns around the capital, Kyiv, recaptured from Russian forces in recent days.
In Bucha, Associated Press journalists saw 21 bodies.
One group of nine, all in civilian clothes, were scattered around a site that residents said Russian troops used as a base. They appeared to have been shot at close range. At least two had their hands tied behind their backs.
In Motyzhyn, to the west of Kyiv, AP journalists saw the bodies of four people who appeared to have been shot at close range and thrown into a pit. Residents said the mayor, her son, and her husband – who had been bound and blindfolded – were among them.
‘Genocide’
US President Joe Biden called for a war crimes trial against Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and said he will seek more sanctions after the reported atrocities.
“You saw what happened in Bucha,” Biden said, describing Putin as a “war criminal”.
Western and Ukrainian leaders have accused Russia of war crimes before, and the International Criminal Court’s prosecutor has opened a probe to investigate the conflict.
However, the latest reports ratcheted up the condemnation even further, with President Zelenskyy and some western leaders going so far as accusing Russia of genocide.
The crime of genocide is difficult to prove because prosecutors would have to show that the killers or their commanders had a “specific intent” to partially or wholly destroy a group of people — but the use of the word has clear emotional resonance and could serve to draw even more attention to the conflict.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov rejected the allegations, describing the scenes outside Kyiv as a “stage-managed anti-Russian provocation.”
He said the mayor of Bucha made no mention of atrocities a day after Russian troops left last week, but two days later scores of bodies were photographed scattered in the streets.
He said Russia is pushing for an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss the matter, but the UK, which currently chairs the body, has refused to convene it. The US and Britain have accused Russia in recent weeks of using Security Council meetings to spread disinformation.
Condemnation from Europe
Speaking to reporters this morning, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that Russia was committing “appalling and barbaric crimes” in Ukraine.
He said that the Government would be supporting additional sanctions against Russia for the killing of civilians in Kyiv and Bucha.
“We’re now looking and we would support further sanctions, which in themselves has an impact on the economy, given the appalling and barbaric crimes committed by Russian Federation troops in Ukraine, particularly in the environs of Kyiv and Bucha and other towns, where we see innocent civilians murdered, hands tied behind their backs,” Martin said.
We cannot be blind in the first instance, to the appalling human trauma and death that is being visited upon the people of Ukraine.
“Every conceivable pressure that we can now has to be put on Russia to stop this war and stop this attack on humanity.”
Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki described Russia as a “totalitarian-fascist state”, saying “the bloody massacres perpetrated by Russian soldiers deserve to be called by name: this is genocide”.
French President Emmanuel Macron said today there is “clear evidence of war crimes” in Bucha.
“What just happened in Bucha calls for a new round of sanctions and very clear measures,” he said on France-Inter radio. “I’m in favour of a new round of sanctions and in particular on coal and petrol. We need to act.”
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez also called for those responsible for the slayings in Bucha to be punished, saying they should “answer these alleged cases of crimes against humanity, war crimes and, why not say it, of genocide, too”.
European Council president Charles Michel earlier tweeted that the EU is assisting Ukrainians and rights groups in gathering evidence to be used in international courts, adding that “further EU sanctions & support are on their way”.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said “the Russian authorities are responsible for these atrocities, committed while they had effective control of the area”.
“The perpetrators of war crimes and other serious violations as well as the responsible government officials and military leaders will be held accountable,” he added.
US condemnation
In the meantime, the US and its allies have sought to punish the Kremlin for the war by imposing sweeping sanctions on Russia. Despite this, they may be reluctant to impose measures that cause further harm to a global economy still recovering from the coronavirus pandemic.
As a major oil and gas exporter, Russia stands to benefit from any rise in already high global energy prices.
Europe is in a particular bind, since it gets 40% of its gas and 25% of its oil from Russia. Governments have been scrambling to find ways to reduce that reliance. Estimates of the impact of a gas boycott on European countries vary but most involve a substantial loss of economic output.
German vice-chancellor Robert Habeck, who is also the economy minister and responsible for energy, said Europe can go “significantly further” in imposing sanctions against Russia.
He said Germany is right to take a longer-term approach to abandoning Russian energy imports.
Germany has faced criticism for opposing an immediate halt to Russian energy deliveries. The country says it hopes to end Russian coal imports this summer and oil imports by the end of the year, but halting gas will take longer.
“We are working every day on creating the conditions for and steps toward an embargo,” Habeck said. “We are on the right track.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 24 February invasion has killed thousands of people and forced more than four million Ukrainians to flee their country.
Putin has said the attack is aimed at eliminating a security threat and demanded that Ukraine drop its bid to join the Nato military alliance of western countries. Ukraine insists it never posed any threat but has offered to officially declare itself neutral.
The head of Ukraine’s delegation in talks with Russia has said Moscow’s negotiators informally agreed to most of a draft proposal discussed during talks in Istanbul, but no written confirmation has been provided.
While western officials initially said they believed Putin’s goal was to take Kyiv and potentially install a Kremlin-friendly government, Russian forces faced stiff resistance on their road to the capital and have now retreated from some areas around it.
Now, Moscow says it is focusing its offensive on the Donbas in the country’s east, where Russian-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces for years.
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