This video contains disturbing imagesPlay a video on Brightcove
ITV News correspondent Dan Rivers reports the latest in Ukraine, as evidence of mass killings has been found around Kyiv
Vladimir Putin must face trial for war crimes after new allegations of atrocities committed by the Russian military, said US President Joe Biden.
His comments came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Bucha, one of the cities around Kyiv where officials say the bodies of hundreds of civilians have been found.
Meanwhile, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki compared Putin to Hitler as he criticized French President Emmanuel Macron for negotiating with him as international leaders shunned Russia.
“You saw what happened in Bucha,” Biden said, adding that President Putin was “a war criminal.”
Imports of Russian gas and oil mean sanctions against Russia do not have the intended effect of isolation, says US correspondent Emma Muffy
Mr Zelensky called Russia’s actions “genocide” and called on the West to impose tougher sanctions on Russia, but Mr Biden stopped using the same term.
“We need to gather all the details so that this can be real – to conduct a war crimes trial,” Mr Biden said.
“What is happening in Bucha is ugly and everyone sees it.”
ITV News reporter Dan Rivers says he saw three mass graves and adds all the evidence pointing to Russia
The bodies of 410 civilians have been removed from cities in the Kyiv region, which were recently returned by Russian forces, said Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Irina Venediktova.
The allegations prompted the Polish prime minister to name a number of leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
“How many times have you negotiated with Putin? What have you achieved? Have you stopped any of these actions that have taken place?” He asked Mr. Macron.
“Criminals must not discuss and negotiate with criminals. Criminals must fight.”
Tanya Nedashkovska, 57, mourns the death of her husband, who was killed in Bucha. Credit: AP
Zelensky, meanwhile, said Russia must act quickly to negotiate an agreement to end the war.
Speaking during a visit to Bucha, he said evidence of atrocities made it difficult to negotiate with Russia.
“It is very difficult to negotiate when you see what they have done here,” he said, adding that “dead people were found in barrels, basements, strangled, tortured in Bucha and elsewhere.”
He added that “the longer the Russian Federation pulls it, the worse it will worsen its own situation and this war.”
He also warned residents that Russian forces were creating a “catastrophic” situation for civilians, leaving mines around homes, abandoned equipment and even corpses.
Amid calls for Western action, Germany has expelled 40 Russian envoys for the atrocities in Bucha and said further action is being prepared with allies as the United States plans to demand the removal of Russia’s most important human rights in the UN body.
France has also said it is expelling “several” diplomats.
What happened outside of Kyiv?
Ukrainian authorities say the bodies of at least 410 civilians have been found in areas outside the Ukrainian capital since the withdrawal of Russian troops last week – many with their hands tied, gunshot wounds at close range and traces of torture.
ITV News correspondent Dan Rivers is in Bucha, where “atrocities on a disgusting scale are being revealed.”
Ukrainian servicemen are checking the streets for traps in the Russian-occupied suburb of Kyiv Bucha. Credit: AP
He had heard stories of rape and mass executions and was shown mass graves in the city after the Russians withdrew.
Some of the dead were buried by friends near their homes in marked graves, but many were hastily interned in mass graves without tombstones or even identification.
In one of his graves was shown about 280 bodies in two rows – one for the dead Russians and the other for the Ukrainians.
A man told Dan Rivers about the rape and murder of a young woman at the hands of two Chechen soldiers, whom he and another man later killed.
A woman embraces a Ukrainian serviceman after a convoy of military and auxiliary vehicles arrives in Russian-occupied Bucha. Credit: AP
A day earlier, journalists witnessed Ukrainian soldiers carefully removing at least six bodies from a street in Bucha with cables in case the Russians seized corpses with explosives before retrieving them.
Locals said the dead were civilians killed without provocation, a claim that could not be confirmed independently
Russia has denied allegations of killing civilians as a “provocation” by Ukrainian authorities and has convened a UN Security Council meeting to discuss the issue.
The country’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzya, dismissed the reports as “fake news” – although his allegations are unbelievable.
“On April 4, the regime in Kyiv, with the active support of Western sponsors, began spreading false news in the Western media about alleged atrocities committed by Russian military forces in the city of Bucha.
“It was clear from the beginning that this was nothing more than a staged provocation aimed at discrediting and dehumanizing the Russian army and exerting political pressure on Russia.
What did the United Kingdom say?
A spokesman for Boris Johnson said the bodies found in areas recently rebuilt by Russia showed “disgusting attacks on innocent civilians and are further evidence that Putin and his army are committing what appears to be war crimes in Ukraine.”
But he stopped calling it genocide. The spokesman said that “the prime minister’s view is that Putin has crossed the threshold of barbarism some time ago”, but added that only a court can decide on genocide.
Britain is urging Western allies to impose tougher sanctions to “increase” pressure on Russia, including excluding it completely from the international payment system SWIFT.
More civilian deaths have been reported
On Sunday, Ukraine reported more civilian casualties.
At least seven people were killed and 34, including three children, were injured in a Russian missile attack on Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, according to the regional prosecutor’s office.
What you need to know – Listen for more news and analysis
It says 10 buildings were destroyed.
In the Black Sea port of Nikolaev, District Governor Vitaly Kim said at least one resident had been killed and 14 others injured in a Russian shelling Sunday night.
Local authorities also announced more Russian strikes on Nikolaev early Monday, but there were no reports of casualties.
Russian forces continue to withdraw through Ukraine.
Russian troops have withdrawn from the Sumy region in northeastern Ukraine, which has been occupied for nearly a month, local administrator Dmitry Zhivitsky said in a video message released by Ukrainian news agencies on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the news agency RBK Ukraina reported that the road between Chernihiv and the capital Kyiv will be reopened to traffic later Monday. The mayor said on Sunday that relentless Russian shelling had destroyed 70% of the city.
Add Comment