German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. /
Scholz and Baerbock “horrified” by the massacres of civilians in the withdrawal of Russian troops
German Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz has demanded that “the crimes of the Russian military” be investigated in their withdrawal from northern Ukraine. The images shot after the withdrawal in the small town of Butscha are “terrible” and “appalling”, said the head of the German government, who demanded that independent organizations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross have access to the regions affected by these excesses. “to document them thoroughly.”
“The guilty and those who ordered it must be held accountable,” said the Social Democratic politician, who demanded from Moscow “the approval once and for all of a ceasefire and an end to the fighting.” Scholz pointed out that this is a terrible and senseless war, which causes a lot of suffering and benefits no one. “The war must end,” said the Federal Chancellor.
The German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock, was also “horrified” today by the excesses of Russian troops against the civilian population in their withdrawal from northern Ukraine and announced new and tougher sanctions against the Vladimir Putin regime, as well as more aid for the kyiv authorities.
The images of the “unbridled violence” that have been filmed in the Ukrainian town of Butscha after the withdrawal of the Russian military forces are “unbearable,” Baerbock said on Twitter. “Those responsible for these war crimes must be held accountable. We are going to toughen the sanctions against Russia and support Ukraine even more energetically in its defense”, said the head of German diplomacy.
A video shot by the Ukrainian military in the town near kyiv shows streets full of corpses, apparently civilians. Reports and photos from international journalists confirm the atrocities. A reporter for the German weekly Der Spiegel describes executions with their arms tied behind their backs and dead people with their shopping bags, all of them shot in the head.
The humanitarian Human Rights Watch has therefore accused the Russian army of war crimes and carrying out systematic executions and looting. Images similar to those of Butscha have been taken on the outskirts of kyiv, Kharkov or Chernigov.
In Butscha alone some 280 people have been buried after the withdrawal of Russian troops in mass graves. “They were not military, they did not have weapons, they did not pose a threat to anyone,” said Ukrainian presidential adviser Mikhailo Podoljak.