The horror in Bucha

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Good evening. This is your Russia-Ukraine War Report, a nightly guide to the latest news and analysis on the conflict.

Mounting evidence of atrocities in Bucha, a kyiv suburb where retreating Russian soldiers left behind dozens of dead civilians, some with their hands tied and gunshot wounds to the head, is prompting calls for Russia to be held accountable.

“You will remember that I was criticized for calling Putin a war criminal,” President Biden said. “Well, the truth of the matter, you saw what happened in Bucha. This justifies him: he is a war criminal”.

Some European leaders have called for tougher sanctions in response, including an outright ban on Russian fuel imports. Germany, France and Lithuania expelled the Russian diplomats.

Days after Russian troops withdrew from the city, Ukrainians were still finding dead in yards and on roads, my colleagues Carlotta Gall and Andrew Kramer reported from Bucha in a scathing account.

Some of the bodies were found face down, or curled up, killed on bicycles, or while walking down the street, or in the basements of houses.

Carlotta and Andrew also interviewed the local coroner, Serhiy Kaplishny, who said the city had to dig a mass grave after the local morgue was overwhelmed. In a single day, Kaplishny said he had collected about 30 bodies, 13 of whom were men with their hands tied and who had been shot in the head at close range.

Russia has denied that its troops were involved in the atrocities in Bucha, calling the footage “another hoax” and suggesting that the bodies had recently been placed in the streets after “all Russian units completely withdrew from Bucha” around of March 30.

But a review of video and satellite images by The Times shows that many of the civilians were killed more than three weeks ago, when the Russian army controlled the city, and have been rotting in the streets ever since.

A video shot by a local council member on April 2 shows several bodies strewn across Yablonska Street in Bucha. Satellite images provided to The Times by Maxar Technologies show that at least 11 of them had been on the streets since March 11, when Russia, according to its own account, occupied the city.

Some of the dead lay next to what appears to be an impact crater. Others were near abandoned cars. Three of the dead lay next to bicycles. Some have their hands tied behind their backs with white cloth.

Human Rights Watch said this weekend that it had documented “apparent war crimes” by Russian forces against Ukrainian civilians in the occupied Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Kyiv areas of Ukraine.

The group’s report, released before the Bucha killings came to light, documents in chilling detail numerous cases of violations of the laws of war, including repeated rapes, two summary executions and other incidents of unlawful violence and threats against civilians. .

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has asked the International Criminal Court and other international organizations to rush to Bucha and other cities in the kyiv region to collect evidence.

But the chances of Russian officials, including Vladimir Putin, facing charges in a trial are, for now, very slim.

There is no established international tribunal to prosecute war crimes committed in Ukraine. Establishing such a court would likely require approval from the United Nations Security Council, where Russia has veto power.

War crimes cases can be brought before the ICC in The Hague, but successful prosecution would be a challenge, experts say. Russia also withdrew from the Rome Statute, the treaty that created the ICC, meaning it would not cooperate with the court. (The United States is also not a member of the treaty.)

Even so, the UN has established a commission of inquiry to gather evidence of accusations of war crimes that could be used by a court to prosecute those responsible.

Meanwhile, the atrocities in Bucha are likely to complicate negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.

Standing in Bucha, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said today, referring to the Russian troops, that it was “very difficult to talk, when you see what they have done here”.

in Ukraine

  • President Volodymyr Zelensky has criticized former German and French leaders Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy, accusing them of making too many concessions to Russia.

  • In his speech last night at the Grammys, Zelensky said: “What is more opposed to music? The silence of the ruined cities and the murdered people”.

  • Why did the Russian troops fail to seize kyiv? This Times interactive exposes the factors that allowed the defense of Ukraine.

In Russia

  • Russia has kept up with payments on its public debt, dashing expectations that a default was imminent.

  • Opinion: In a world of smartphones, apps, crowdfunding and global platforms, Putin had no idea how many people would be watching the war, writes Thomas Friedman.

Worldwide

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Thank you for reading. Come back tomorrow. — Carole

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Reference-www.nytimes.com

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