For the first time in about a month, photos show what Russia’s forces have left in the suburbs around Kyiv. – Cruel and unacceptable, says NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg.
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“I ask the International Criminal Court and international organizations to send their people to Butsja and other liberated villages and towns in Kyiv,” said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. in a statement.
He asks that they, in cooperation with Ukrainian police, gather evidence of Russian war crimes.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry writes that they have already sent a formal inquiry to the International Criminal Court.
– We are still working on finding and collecting bodies, but there are already hundreds. Dead lie in the streets. They killed civilians on their way in and out, Kuleba further claims.
On Sunday afternoon, Ukrainian authorities say that so far 410 dead people have been found in the area, writes Reuters.
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DEAD ALONG THE ROAD: Four dead people were found and covered on the side of the main road between Zhytomyr and Kyiv on Saturday. The bodies are partly covered with soot and bear the mark of having been lying outside. 1 of 2Foto: Mykhaylo Palinchak/SOPA Images/Shutterstock
–A picture he has shared on social media shows what is supposed to be dead in a mass grave. Four dead bodies protrude partially from the sand in the picture, and one of the dead has his hands tied behind his back.
– The Butsja massacre proves that Russian hatred of Ukrainians exceeds everything Europe has seen since World War II. The only way to stop this is by helping Ukraine kick Russia out as soon as possible, he writes.
In an interview with American CBS Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky describes what has happened as a genocide. He also says that those responsible for crimes committed in Ukraine must be punished – including those who have given the orders.
Russia calls messages “fake news”
After the Russian withdrawal from Butsja there were several dead people in the streets. The news agency AFP, which was in the city, writes that they have seen several lying dead along one and the same street, and that one of them is said to have had his hands tied together on his back.
Ukrainas Kuleba claims Sunday on Twitter that “the massacre was carried out on purpose”, and accuses Russia of “eliminating” as many Ukrainians as they can.
Russia claims for its part that the reports of civilians killed are “fake news” and that it is all propaganda. They claim that Russian forces withdrew from the city as early as March 30, and call Ukraine’s publication of photos and video from the city “another provocation”, writes Reuters.
The Russian Ministry of Defense claims in a message on Telegram that Ukrainian forces have bombed the area after the Russians withdrew – and that this was what took civilian lives.
According to the state the news agency TASS Russia claims that the photos and videos of the dead civilians were “staged by Kyiv”.
16 of the 20 dead that AFP counted in a street in the city on Saturday, were either on the road or by the roadside. The BBC writes that a Ukrainian passport was found lying next to the person who had his hands tied behind his back.
The mayor of the city, Anatoly Fedoruk, told AFP that there are several dead in the streets and that 280 people have so far been buried in mass graves in the city.
On Sunday, there were reports of a new mass grave in Busja, where 57 people are to be buried.
It is unclear who the dead – who are dressed in civilian clothes – are, and how or in what way they have been killed.
DEAD: Many killed in the town of Butsja north-west of Kyiv are buried in large mass graves. –1 of 3Photo: Rodrigo Abd / AP
Claims that war crimes have been committed
In a recent report from the non-profit organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) it appears that they believe there have been war crimes in Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine.
They write that Russian forces gathered five men in Butsja on March 4 and executed one of them.
A witness is said to have told Human Rights Watch that the soldiers forced the men to kneel along the road and pull the T-shirts over their heads before shooting one of them in the head.
VG special: See what has happened in the war in Ukraine – day by day
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen writes Sunday on Twitter that there is a great need for an independent investigation of what has happened in Ukraine.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said on Sunday CNN that the pictures from Butsja show why the war must end.
– It is a brutality against civilians we have not seen in Europe for decades. It is cruel and completely unacceptable that civilians are used as targets and that they are killed, he says.
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DESTROYED: On March 27, the news came that the historic Antonov aircraft AN-225 Mriya had been destroyed as a result of the fighting on Hostomel. This photo was taken on April 2. On March 4, Russian forces also threatened to execute a man and his son in the town of Zabuchy outside Irpin, according to Human Rights Watch.
– The soldiers asked to meet my 34-year-old son who is a member of the territorial forces. He came out to meet them. They asked who was in the house before searching it. In the garden they found a rifle and fuel, and then it clicked completely for them, claims a witness to HRW, and continues:
– The commander ordered the others to take us outside to a tree and shoot us. They took us out. One of the soldiers refused. Then they took us back in and ordered my son to undress because they said they wanted to see if he had nationalist tattoos.
During the Russian attacks, fleeing Ukrainians have been forced to take cover. Some of them never got this far: Like the family of four who died together on the streets of Irpinas a Russian artillery shell is said to have landed next to them.
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INVESTIGATOR: A soldier lay on the ground in Butsja on Saturday 2 April in front of the remains of wood to see if there is a hidden mine there. – What has happened in Butsja and other suburbs around Kyiv can only be described as a genocide. These are heinous war crimes that Putin is responsible for, Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko told the German newspaper Bild.
Pictures from the areas that until recently have been under Russian control shows dozens of dead. Along the highway between Zhytomyr and Butsja is the same between burnt out cars.
Several of them are said to have been killed while trying to escape across the Butsja River to Ukrainian-controlled areas.
– Putin has changed his strategy at the moment because he failed to take Kyiv. Our opposition was too strong for that. Now the Russian army will continue in the east first. The danger to Kyiv remains, because it was and is Putin’s goal to conquer the capital. He has now postponed this goal for tactical reasons. We need more support from the West to be able to defend ourselves, says Klitschko.
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FLIGHTS: With white flags in their hands, people moved between Butsja and Irpin on March 11. 1 of 2Foto: SERHII NUZHNENKO / Reuters
–«Unsuccessful military attack»
The head teacher of intelligence at the Armed Forces Staff College, Tom Røseth, tells VG that there are still Russian forces in the area, but that there are indications that they are reducing the forces on the ground.
– Russia will focus on the areas where they have progress, the core focus is the Donbas and the southern coastal strip. The Russians have not given up on Kyiv, but they will temporarily focus on other areas. If the Russians manage to take Mariupol and experience progress, they will be motivated and try to conquer more areas. Then it may be relevant to try Kyiv again, says Røseth.
He describes Russia’s attempts to take Kyiv as a failed military attack.
– They were unable to replenish with enough ground forces and weapons to maintain an effective attack. In addition, the Ukrainian resilience is strong.
Røseth still believes they will continue to bomb Kyiv with missiles.
– As long as they do not get into the cities with ground forces, they will continue to bomb them as long as there is war. This will be exhausting for the population.
VG is in Kyiv – see the latest report here:
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