Pictures show “unbridled violence” by Russian troops in Bucha near Kyiv. SPD leader Klingbeil remains with the no-to the energy embargo against Russia.
- Im Ukraine war* will be hundreds of the Russian army in the suburbs of Kyiv* killed.
- Kremlin chief Wladimir Putin* denies responsibility of Russia.
- All about war crimes Ukraine conflict read here.
+++ 08.45 a.m.: According to Ukrainian media reports, well over 300 civilian bodies were recovered after the massacre in the city of Bucha near Kyiv. By Sunday evening, 330 to 340 lifeless bodies had already been collected, the newspaper Ukrajinska Prawda wrote on Monday, citing a funeral service. The search for more victims continued on Monday. Some bodies were buried in backyards, it said.
War in Ukraine: Atrocities in Butscha – SPD leader Klingbeil rejects embargo
+++ 06.25 a.m: SPD leader Lars Klingbeil continues to reject an immediate stop to energy imports from Russia even after the killings of civilians in the Ukrainian Bucha which became known. Despite the terrible pictures, he believes that “an immediate gas embargo is the wrong approach for many reasons”. he said on Sunday evening on the ARD program “Anne Will”.* The Bavarian Prime Minister, CSU boss Markus Söder, shared this position there and pointed out that Russia was already looking for other customers, such as India.
“We turn off the gas tap a little more every day,” explained Klingbeil. To make a complete stop from one day to the next, “we have to talk about the consequences that this would have for us in Germany, despite all the brutality of these pictures and all the emotionality that I also have.”
Atrocities in Bucha: Russia calls for UN session – “Provocation of Ukrainian radicals”
Update from April 4th, 2022, 5:00 a.m.: Russia has called for a special session of the UN Security Council on Monday in response to allegations of war crimes in Bucha, Ukraine. Moscow had requested the meeting because of the “disgusting provocations by Ukrainian radicals,” Russia’s deputy ambassador to the UN, Dmitry Polyansky, said on Twitter on Sunday.
The Russian army had recently withdrawn from the region around the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. According to the Ukrainian authorities, hundreds of civilian bodies were then found in the suburb of Bucha. The pictures and videos from the place sparked international horror. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and other western representatives accused Moscow of war crimes.
Moscow has denied the killing of civilians by Russian soldiers in Bucha. The Kremlin accused Kyiv of staging the photographs of the corpses.
Atrocities in Bucha: Selenskyi invites Angela Merkel
+++ 10:22 p.m.: After the discovery of hundreds of bodies in the Ukrainian city of Bucha, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has killed the former Chancellor Angela Merkel invited to a trip to the city. In the Kiev suburb, Merkel – like former French President Nicolas Sarkozy – could get an idea of their failed Russia policy in recent years, Zelensky said in a video message.
In 2008, the NATO states, including Germany, promised Ukraine membership, but then backed down out of consideration for Russia, according to Zelensky. Merkel was Chancellor from 2005 to 2021. “I invite Ms. Merkel and Mr. Sarkozy to visit Bucha and see what the policy of concessions to Russia has led to in 14 years,” said Zelenskyy. “You will see the tortured Ukrainians with your own eyes.”
Ukraine war: “Genocide” in Bucha – UN Secretary-General “deeply shocked”
+++ 7:51 p.m.: UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he was “deeply shocked” by the atrocities committed against residents of the Ukrainian city of Bucha. “It is essential that an independent investigation leads to effective accountability,” said the UN chief on Sunday in New York, according to the statement.
Ukraine has recovered the bodies of a total of 410 residents in the region around the capital Kyiv, Ukrainian Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova wrote on Facebook on Sunday evening. Coroners and other specialists are on duty to examine the bodies and start investigations. Ukraine blames the massacre on Russian troops, who until recently occupied the small town. Moscow denies that.
Hundreds of bodies found in Bucha: Russia denies
Update from 5:55 p.m.: After Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj commented on the horrific images from Bucha, a town northwest of Kyiv and described the atrocities as “genocide”, Russia has now reacted and denied: “During the time this town was under control of the Russian armed forces, not a single resident has been a victim of violence,” the Defense Ministry said in Moscow on Sunday.
All residents had the opportunity to “freely leave Bucha in a northerly direction”, while from the south the place was “shot at around the clock by Ukrainian troops”. The Russian Defense Ministry described the photos and videos of corpses in the streets of Bucha as “another production of the Kiev regime for the Western media”.
Zelenskyj had previously spoken of a genocide on the US broadcaster CBS and explained: “We are citizens of Ukraine and do not want to be subjected to the politics of the Russian Federation. And that is why we are being destroyed and wiped out. And this is happening in Europe in the 21st century”. Selenskyj showed disbelief at the violence. “If we find people whose hands are tied behind their backs and who have been beheaded, then I don’t understand it.” It’s not enough for the “criminals” to kill children, they would also torture them.
Atrocities in Bucha: Selenskyj speaks of “genocide”, Scholz calls for clarification
First report from Sunday, April 3rd, 2022, 2:35 p.m.: Kyiv – The Ukraine war brings suffering, destruction and death. The extent of the atrocities was most recently demonstrated in Bucha, a Ukrainian city about 25 kilometers northwest of the capital Kyiv*. The dramatic reports caused international horror.
The Russian military has withdrawn from the Kyiv region in recent days. According to Ukrainian data, the entire region was recaptured. What remained, however, were streets strewn with corpses and complete destruction. According to information from the Ukrainian authorities, almost 300 bodies were found that had to be buried in mass graves. The three city cemeteries are still in the area of the Russian armed forces.
Reporters from the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency reported that many of the dead wore civilian clothes. They saw at least 20 bodies on a single street in Bucha. A dead man is said to have had his hands tied.
Ukraine: Devastating destruction in Bucha – Pictures show “unbridled violence”
“All these people were shot,” Mayor Anatoly Fedoruk said. “They killed her with a shot in the back of the head,” Fedoruk added, pointing to Russian forces. In addition, there are cars on the streets in which “entire families have been killed: children, women, grandmothers, men”.
“We have more than a hundred nationalities. This is about the destruction and annihilation of all these nationalities.”
The President of Ukraine Wolodymyr Selenskyj accused Russia of “genocide” in Ukraine. “We have more than a hundred nationalities. This is about the destruction and annihilation of all these nationalities,” Zelenskyi told US broadcaster CBS. Foreign Minister Kuleba called for “new devastating” sanctions against Russia from the Group of Seven Major Industrialized Countries (G7).
Massacre in Butscha: Scholz demands “ruthless” clarification
EU Council President Charles Michel was “shocked” by pictures from the commuter city on Sunday (03.04.2022). Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock* (Green*) resigned tougher sanctions against Russia* and further support for the Ukrainian military. The pictures of the “unbridled violence” from Butscha were “intolerable,” wrote the Green politician on the short message service Twitter.
According to the reports from Butscha, Chancellor Olaf Scholz* (SPD*) demanded an investigation into “crimes committed by the Russian military”. The crimes would have to be “ruthlessly” cleared up, Scholz said on Sunday in Berlin. In addition, the perpetrators and their clients “must be consistently held accountable”.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has described the deaths of civilians in the city of Bucha as “unacceptable”. He told CNN the deaths “represent a level of brutality against civilians that we haven’t seen in Europe for decades” and that they “underscore the importance of this war having to end.”
Ukraine war: Foreign Minister calls for further sanctions against Russia
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also called for further sanctions. In view of the events in Bucha, he spoke of a “deliberate massacre”. “The Russians want to annihilate as many Ukrainians as possible,” he wrote on Twitter. The retreating Russian forces are creating a “catastrophic” situation for the civilian population, the Ukrainian president has warned Wolodymyr Selenskyj* According to the Arab news agency Al Jazeera. According to the head of state, the Russian military had left landmines near houses.
But a break from the more than five-week war between Russia and the Ukraine* doesn’t seem to exist. The Ukrainian government saw the withdrawal of Russian troops from the north of the country as evidence of a change in strategy. Instead, Russia wants to reposition itself and strengthen its offensive, especially in southern and eastern Ukraine. Still, that is for some Reason enough for Ukrainians to return to their home country*.
Ukraine update: Air raid reported in Odessa
In the southern Ukrainian port city of Odessa, there was an air raid on an industrial area on Sunday. Sea and air-launched missiles destroyed an oil refinery and three warehouses, the Defense Ministry said. According to Ukrainian information, however, there were no casualties. “Odessa region is one of the priority targets of the enemy,” Ukrainian officer Vladislav Nazarov is quoted as saying by AFP. The metropolis has the largest port in Ukraine and is therefore central to the economy of the entire country.
Also the strategically important port city of Mariupol on the Azov Sea is still besieged by Russian troops. Selenskyj also warned against “powerful attacks”. Evacuation campaigns for the civilian population that is still stuck have failed several times so far. Aid organizations describe the humanitarian situation as catastrophic. The residents have been cut off from any supply for weeks, the AFP reported. (kas/tab/ktho with dpa/AFP) *fr.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.