Japan decries ‘exceptionally cruel’ violence, Spain declares a ‘genocide’ and Biden calls Putin a ‘war criminal’ as global fury grows over Russia’s atrocities in Bucha… but there’s no word from China
- ***WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT***
- Mass graves and ‘hundreds’ of dead bodies found in Bucha and other towns
- World leaders call atrocities carried out by Russians ‘war crimes’ and ‘genocide’
- Demand a war crimes trial for those responsible to hold them to account
- But no word from Chinese officials on the actions of their Russian allies
- Russia labelled the girsly findings a ‘stage-managed anti-Russian provocation’
The world has reacted in growing horror and rage to the shocking revelations of massacres around Kyiv as Russian forces have withdrawn, with the notable exception of China.
In the town of Bucha, just to the north-east or Kyiv, mass graves have been discovered, along with bodies in the street – hands sometimes bound – with close-range gunshot wounds and signs of torture.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke of ‘hundreds of people tortured and killed’ in a video address.
Communal workers carry body bags in the town of Bucha, not far from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on Sunday
Ira Gavriluk holds her cat as she walks next to the corpses of her husband and her brother, who were killed in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, on Monday
Another view of the mass grave discovered close to a church in Bucha, which was uncovered by Ukrainian forces as Russian troops withdrew from the area around the capital
A mass grave was discovered in the grounds of the Church of St. Andrew and Pyervozvannoho All Saints in Bucha, containing the bodies of dozens of civilians
A visibly emotional Volodymyr Zelensky today stood motionless as he surveyed the scene of utter devastation he encountered in the town of Bucha, with dozens of bodies shot at close range laying on the empty streets
The Japanese foreign minister, Yoshimasa Hayashi, said he was ‘shocked’ at ‘brutal acts of violence on civilians’, adding: ‘Murdering innocent civilians is a violation of international humanitarian law and it’s absolutely unacceptable.’
But Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov rejected the allegations of Russian troops killing civilians in Bucha, describing the scenes outside Kyiv as a ‘stage-managed anti-Russian provocation.’
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called upon those behind the massacres to appear before the International Criminal Court, to ‘answer these alleged cases of crimes against humanity, war crimes and, why not say it, of genocide, too.’
US President Joe Biden doubled down on his labeling of Vladimir Putin as a ‘war criminal’ after seeing the reports out of Bucha.
‘We have to gather all the detail, so this can be an actual, have a war crimes trial. This guy is brutal. And what’s happening in Bucha is outrageous.’
He also pledged to provide Ukraine with the weapons they needed to continue the fight.
UK Foreign Minister Liz Truss, speaking alongside Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba during a trip to Warsaw, assured that the perpetrators would be brought to justice.
She also decried any efforts to relax sanctions on Russia while their troops are still on Ukrainian territory and called for even tougher sanctions.
‘The reality is that money is still flowing from the West into Putin’s war machine – and that has to stop,’ she said.
French President Emmanuel Macron echoed the calls for a new round of sanctions and ‘very clear measures’, offering to help the Ukrainians in the investigation of war crimes.
European Union Parliament President Roberta Metsola said: ‘The atrocities committed by the Russian army in Ukraine are horrific, they are disgraceful and they are shameful.’
He added: ‘They underlined the level of threat facing Ukraine and the global rules-based world order.’
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawieck called the Russian actions ‘war crimes’ and said: ‘When we look at the terrible crimes against women, children and entire families, our scream should be even louder.’
Secretary General of the United Nations said he was ‘deeply shocked’ and called for an ‘independent investigation’.
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