Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of “genocide” on Sunday after hundreds of Ukrainians were found dead in Bucha, a suburb of the capital Kiev that had been recaptured by Ukrainian forces. Some of the citizens were buried in mass graves, others were found dead on the street with their hands tied behind their backs. “These are war crimes and they will be recognized by the world as genocide. You are here today and you can see what happened. We know thousands of people who have been killed and tortured, with amputated limbs, raped women, murdered children. I think it is more than – “This is a genocide,” Zelensky told reporters in Bucha on Monday. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is touring the city of Bucha, just northwest of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, on April 4, 2022. President Zelenskyy said the Russian leadership was responsible for the killing of civilians in Bucha, where corpses were found on the street after the city was taken over. army. The United States has stopped using the term “genocide” because of its strict legal definition and its dire consequences. Asked if the latest atrocities reported were genocide, Biden told reporters: “No, I think it’s a war crime.” He called again for an investigation and a trial, seemingly suggesting that Putin himself should be arraigned in a courtroom. “We must continue to provide Ukraine with the weapons it needs to continue the fight, and we must gather all the details to make that happen – to conduct a war crimes trial,” Biden said. “This guy is brutal and what is happening to Bouha is outrageous and everyone sees it,” he added. President Joe Biden speaks to reporters as he arrives at Fort McNair in Washington, DC, April 4, 2022. While not a “genocide,” Biden’s call for a possible war crimes trial raises pressure on the international community to respond to Russia’s war, which has killed thousands and displaced more than 10 million people in less than six weeks. Neighbors gather next to a mass grave near the Church of St. Andrew and Pyervozvannoho of All Saints in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kiev, Ukraine, April 3, 2022. Biden has said he will seek more sanctions against Putin and his government over the atrocities in Bukhara, although it is unclear whether more financial pressure will do anything to end Putin’s campaign, even though he has left the region. of Kiev to the south and east. Community workers carry the body of a civilian killed in the city of Bucha, not far from the Ukrainian capital Kiev on April 3, 2022. The Kremlin has suggested that the scenes, which were publicly reported by eyewitnesses, journalists and Ukrainian government officials, were fabricated – a tactic used repeatedly by Russian officials. Last month, the State Department announced that it had made a legal assessment that Russian forces were committing war crimes in Ukraine, including targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure and firing indiscriminately at civilian areas. The assessment was based on public reports and US intelligence, including interception of communications between Russian forces, according to US Ambassador to the United Nations Beth Van Schaack. This could involve Putin himself, according to Van Schaack, who told reporters that it depends on the jurisdiction that adjudicates cases. Her State Department office continued to document and analyze evidence in preparation for trial. But while her office also helps identify genocide, U.S. officials have so far refrained from using the term. Genocide is an attempt to “destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group,” according to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the 1948 treaty that banned it. It may include acts of killing or harm, as well as preventing births, forcibly transporting children, or imposing horrific conditions that are “estimated to result in natural disaster,” according to the treaty. There are many ongoing international investigations into possible war crimes in Ukraine. The International Criminal Court (ICC), which conducts individual prosecutions, launched an investigation in early March, and the United Nations Human Rights Council voted to set up a panel of experts to investigate, finally naming its members last week. While the State Department’s work will support this research, its definitions of genocide may take years to complete. Last month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that he had decided that the Myanmar army had committed genocide against the Rohingya – almost five years after the Muslim ethnic minority faced a terror campaign that killed thousands and displaced nearly a million people in the neighborhood. ABC News’ Molly Nagle contributed to this report from the White House.
