Political leaders in Germany and France – two countries that have faced questions for not going further in their response to the Russian invasion – also issued fierce criticism. Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, said: “Terrible and horrifying footage reaches us from Ukraine. “Civilians, including women, children and the elderly, shot dead in Bucha, which until a few days ago was controlled by the Russian military.” Other senior German ministers accused Putin’s forces of “war crimes” for the first time and appeared to back a possible import ban on Russian gas. Christine Lambrecht, the defence minister, said: “There has to be a response. Such crimes must not remain without a response.” Emmanuel Macron, the French president, tweeted: “The images reaching us from Bucha, a liberated town near Kyiv, are unbearable. In the streets, hundreds of murdered civilians. “My compassion for the victims, my solidarity with the Ukrainians. The Russian authorities will have to answer for these crimes.”
