DDozens and dozens of lifeless bodies on the public highway… “The Boutcha massacre was deliberate”, denounced Sunday April 3 the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kouleba the day after the discovery of numerous corpses in this city in the north- west of kyiv, just recaptured from the Russian army. “The Boutcha massacre was deliberate. The Russians want to eliminate as many Ukrainians as they can. We have to stop them and put them out. I demand devastating new G7 sanctions now,” he wrote on Twitter.
President Macron and the French Foreign Minister were quick to condemn “with the greatest firmness” the acts committed by the Russian army against civilians in several Ukrainian cities and called for “those responsible to be brought to justice”. and condemned”. “I have read reports of massive abuses committed by Russian forces in Ukrainian towns that they occupied in recent weeks, in particular in the locality of Boutcha. I condemn in the strongest terms such acts constituting, if confirmed, war crimes,” Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in a statement. “We will work, together with our partners, the Ukrainian authorities and the competent international courts, in particular the International Criminal Court, to ensure that these acts do not go unpunished and that those responsible are tried and sentenced,” he added.
The images reaching us from Boutcha, a liberated town near kyiv, are unbearable. In the streets, hundreds of cowardly murdered civilians. My compassion for the victims, my solidarity with the Ukrainians. The Russian authorities will have to answer for these crimes.
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) April 3, 2022
European Council President Charles Michel also accused the Russian military of committing “atrocities” in the kyiv region, calling for more sanctions against Moscow. “Shocked by the haunting images of the atrocities committed by the Russian army in the liberated region of kyiv”, wrote Charles Michel on Twitter, mentioning the hashtag “#BuchaMassacre”, named after the Ukrainian locality taken over from the Russians, where near than 300 people were buried in mass graves. “The EU is helping Ukraine and NGOs to gather the necessary evidence for proceedings before international courts,” said the President of the European Council.
British Foreign Minister Liz Truss denounced the “revolting acts” committed by the Russian army against civilians in Ukraine, in particular in Irpin and Boutcha in the kyiv region, calling for a “war crimes investigation”. . “As Russian troops are forced to retreat, we see growing evidence of the outrageous acts committed by invading forces in towns like Irpin and Boutcha,” Liz Truss said in a statement. These “indiscriminate attacks against innocent civilians” must be “investigated for war crimes”, she added.
For his part, the Vice-Chancellor and German Economy Minister, Robert Habeck, denounced a “terrible war crime” and called for new economic sanctions to be adopted by EU countries against Russia. “This terrible war crime cannot go unanswered,” the environmentalist told the German newspaper. image. “I think that a reinforcement of the sanctions is indicated. This is what we are preparing with our EU partners,” he added. Antony Blinken, the United States Secretary of State, blasted “a punch in the stomach” and called for an immediate end to barbarism.
Shocked by haunting images of atrocities committed by Russian army in Kyiv liberated region #BuchaMassacre
I is watching #Ukraine & NGO’s in gathering of necessary evidence for pursuit in international courts.
Further EU sanctions & support are on their way.
Glory to Ukraine!
— Charles Michel (@eucopresident) April 3, 2022
Nearly 300 civilians buried in mass graves
“kyiv region. Hell in the 21st century. The bodies of men and women who were killed with their hands tied. The worst crimes of Nazism are back in Europe. This was done deliberately by Russia,” tweeted an adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, Mykhaïlo Podoliak. AFP saw the lifeless bodies of at least 20 men in civilian clothes lying on a street in Boutcha on Saturday. One of the men had his hands tied and the bodies were strewn for several hundred yards. The cause of their death could not be determined immediately, but one person had a large head wound.
“All these people were shot”, “they (the Russians) killed them with a bullet in the back of the neck”, assured AFP the mayor of Boutcha, Anatoly Fedorouk. “In Boutcha, we have already buried 280 people in mass graves” because it was impossible to do so in the three cemeteries of the municipality, all within firing range of the Russian soldiers, added Anatoly Fedorouk. Ukrainian forces were only able to fully penetrate Boutcha a few days ago, which had been inaccessible for nearly a month.
The bodies of 57 people were also found in a mass grave in Boutcha by the Ukrainian forces, said Sunday April 3 Serhii Kaplytchny, the head of local relief. A dozen corpses were visible, some only partially buried. “Here in this long grave, 57 people are buried,” said Kaplychnyi, who organized the recovery of the bodies.