Calling Russian soldiers “murderers”, “butchers” and “rapists”, Zelensky said late Sunday: “Culture and human appearance have disappeared along with Ukrainian men and women.” He warned that “even worse things” could be found in other occupied territories. Ukrainian officials say the bodies of 410 civilians were found in cities in the Kiev region recently recaptured by Russian forces. Satellite images taken late last week show a 14-meter (45-foot) mass grave in Bucha near the church of St. Andrew and Pyervozvannoho of All Saints. Maxar, the company that took the photos, said the first signs of excavation for a mass grave there appeared on March 10, several weeks after the invasion. Witnesses to alleged atrocities in Bucha told the Guardian that Russian soldiers shot at men fleeing the city and killed civilians at will. Taras Schevchenko, 43, said Russian soldiers refused to allow the men to leave through a humanitarian corridor, instead of shooting them as they left in an open field. The bodies, he said, were scattered on the sidewalks, with some of those killed being “squeezed by tanks; like animal skin carpets”. Shevchenko’s mother, Yevdokia, 77, said she had seen an elderly man who had questioned a Russian soldier being shot dead as his wife stood next to him. “They shot and killed him and ordered the woman to leave,” he said. The accounts could not be independently verified. Civilians lie dead on the street as Russian forces retreat from Bukha – video Photographs from the city showed a scene of destruction, with pieces of charred and damaged tanks and armored vehicles lined up along a road, along with corpses. Zelensky made a surprise video appearance at the Grammy Awards in Las Vegas on Sunday, urging viewers to support his country “in any way you can.” “Fill the silence with your music. Fill it today to tell our story. Support us in any way you can. “Any, but not silence,” Zelensky said in English in a video featuring John Legend’s Free show featuring Ukrainian musicians and a reading by Ukrainian poet Lyuba Yakimchuck. Russia has denied responsibility for the killings. The Defense Ministry described the photos and videos from cities such as Bucha as “another staged show of the Kiev regime”, echoing a similar statement made after the bombing of a children’s and maternity hospital in Mariupol. People around the world have condemned the barbarity of the forces of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, said the “horrific” killings had been added to evidence of Russian war crimes, while German Chancellor Olaf Soltz was shocked by the “terrible and horrific” video of Bucha. “Roads full of corpses. Bodies buried in improvised conditions. “Among the victims are women, children and the elderly,” said Scholz. His defense minister, Christine Lambrecht, said the European Union should consider banning gas imports from Russia. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken described the images from the recaptured cities as a “punch in the gut”, while UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an independent inquiry. European Council President Charles Michel said he was shocked by the “rudimentary images of atrocities committed by [the] The Russian military “, adding that” further sanctions and EU support are underway “. The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said she was “terrified by reports of untold horror in areas from which Russia is withdrawing.” An independent inquiry is urgently needed, he said, and “war crimes perpetrators will be held accountable.” Zelensky said he was waiting for a UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday to discuss the atrocities and that on Sunday night he criticized a historic Western policy of “calming down” Russia by failing to make Ukraine a NATO member 14 years ago at a summit. summit in Bucharest. He called on former German and French leaders Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy to visit Bucha “to see what the concession policy has led to Russia” and urged Ukraine’s allies to do more than increase sanctions. Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia warned on Monday not to draw too much attention from the withdrawal of Russian forces from Kyiv. “It simply came to our notice then. “They are using it as a pause and I am sure they will make another attack and therefore we need the support of the free world to help us fight,” said Ambassador Vasyl Myroshnychenko. “We see civilian bodies around the city, many of them with their hands tied. “Now we are collecting data from witnesses,” Myroshnychenko said of recent discoveries in the city such as Bucha, Irpin and Hostomel. “Multiple rapes of women, children who were killed. “This is a massacre.” The West needed to provide heavy weapons, air defense systems, anti-ship missiles, armor, vehicles, tanks and planes to help Ukraine, the ambassador said. “It’s only two and a half flights from Kyiv to Paris. “We are in the middle of Europe and that is what is happening now in the 21st century.” In other developments:
Work is under way to bring the town of Buca back to life, Zelenski said, with critical infrastructure such as electricity, water and hospital care being restored. The Ukrainian military claimed in a statement on Monday morning that Russia had launched a “secret mobilization” of some 60,000 troops to make up for lost ground in Ukraine. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba has urged the International Criminal Court and international organizations to come to the region to gather information on Russian war crimes. Speaking to Times Radio on Sunday, he said Butsa was a “deliberate massacre”. Describing Russia as “worse than the Islamic State”, he said Russian forces were guilty of murder, torture, rape and looting. He also urged G7 countries to impose “catastrophic” sanctions immediately. The siege of Mariupol is a “key target” of the Russian invasion, the UK Ministry of Defense has said, as heavy fighting continues in the southeastern city.
