What happened to Boutcha, 28,500 inhabitants registered before the start of the war in Ukraine? Twenty corpses were discovered by the Ukrainian army on Saturday, after the withdrawal of Russian troops from the kyiv region. 300 bodies were buried in mass graves. Some elements found on the spot raise fears of war crimes.
A road strewn with corpses
As Ukrainian troops regained possession of towns liberated from Russian occupation, around 20 bodies were discovered in Boutcha, 50 kilometers from kyiv, the Ukrainian capital. Mainly men, strewn the asphalt, according to several journalists on the spot. Some lie lying on their bicycles, carried away by death as they pedal. Others – at least one person, according to the findings of an AFP journalist – had their hands tied behind their backs with a piece of white cloth, a Ukrainian passport lying on the ground next to it.
At least 300 dead
According to the mayor of Boutcha, Anatoly Fedoruk, at least 300 people “were shot, killed, with a bullet in the back of the head” during the Russian occupation. Among the inhabitants of his city who perished, there would be “men and women of all ages”, according to the city councilor. These bodies were buried in “mass graves” for the most part. And the authorities expect an even heavier toll: “I can’t say how many there are still in the courtyards, behind the palisades,” said the mayor of the city.
Trapped remains?
According to Anatoli Kushnirchuk, Ukrainian chaplain in charge of burying the bodies, the Russians would have trapped the remains: “Many were mined by the Russians”, he told Franceinfo. The authorities are initially concentrating on the corpses in the streets, but the city would be full of bodies: “in cellars or in places where Russian terrorists threw grenades”, according to him. The man says he can no longer count the dead. So much so that Boutcha lacks “body bags, respirators and thick rubber gloves”, he says.
War crimes, according to Human Rights Watch
In a press release published this Sunday, the organization Human Rights Watch claims to have documented “violations of the laws of war by Russian military forces against civilians”, in the regions of Chernihiv, Kharkiv and kyiv and in particular in Boutcha. . “On March 4, Russian forces located in Boutcha, about 30 km northwest of kyiv, apprehended five men and summarily executed one of them,” reports the association.
A witness told Human Rights Watch that soldiers forced the five men to kneel on the side of the road, covering their heads with their T-shirts and shooting one of them behind the head. ” He [s’est effondré] said the witness, “and the women [présentes sur les lieux] screamed”, details the organization, thus supporting the track of executions, carried out outside the fights.
“The cases we have documented demonstrate unspeakable and deliberate cruelty and violence against Ukrainian civilians,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. The organization reports repeated rapes and summary executions, based on cross-checked testimonies.
Ukraine calls for sanctions
“The Bucha massacre was deliberate. The Russians aim to eliminate as many Ukrainians as possible. We have to arrest them and deport them. I now demand devastating new G7 sanctions,” said Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, on Twitter. It calls for an embargo on oil, gas and coal, the closure of all ports to Russian ships and goods and the disconnection of all Russian banks from SWIFT.
International condemnation
European Council President Charles Michel said he was “shocked by the traumatic images of Russian atrocities”. “Further European sanctions against Russia and aid for Ukraine are in preparation,” he said, also on Twitter.
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said she was “horrified by the atrocities in Boutcha and other cities in Ukraine”. Reports of “Russian forces targeting innocent civilians are despicable. The UK is working with other countries to gather evidence and support the war crimes investigation” by the International Criminal Court, she added. Attacks against civilians must be the subject of a “war crimes investigation”, said the British executive this Sunday morning.