KIEV — There've been calls for an international probe into alleged Russian atrocities against civilians as Vladimir Putin's forces retreated from the Kiev region.
Moscow is concentrating its offensive on eastern and southern Ukraine. Thousands have died since Russia invaded the country on Feb. 24, causing widespread devastation. Millions have fled their homes, creating Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II.
The war has deepened the rupture between Russia and the West, where there are calls for more sanctions against Moscow.
EU and UK leaders have evoked further sanctions against Moscow in the wake of mounting evidence of Russian atrocities against civilians amid the withdrawal from the outskirts of Kiev.
The Polish and Spanish prime ministers, speaking separately, have echoed the Ukrainian president's allegations of "genocide", urging an international investigation. France's President Macron says there's clear evidence of Russian war crimes.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a special justice unit will be set up to investigate Russian crimes in Ukraine, involving national and international investigators, prosecutors and judges, as Ukraine’s prosecutor-general said the bodies of 410 civilians have been removed from Kiev-area towns that were recently retaken from Russian troops.
Germany's defense minister said European officials should talk about halting gas supplies from Russia. Lithuania said on Sunday it is the first EU nation to cut itself off entirely from gas imports from Russia.
The Ukrainian military said its forces have retaken some towns in the Chernihiv region and that humanitarian aid is being delivered, while, Russia has described the images from Bucha as a Ukrainian "hoax". Moscow asked for a special meeting of the UN Security Council but the UK that currently chairs it refused to convene it.
The UN high commissioner for human rights Michelle Bachelet said she was "horrified by the images of civilians lying dead on the streets" in Bucha, Ukraine.
Bachelet said that the reports emerging from Ukrainian suburbs outside of Kiev "raise serious and disturbing questions about possible war crimes" in addition to "grave breaches of international humanitarian law and serious violations of international human rights law."
She said that it would be necessary to identify the victims and their exact causes of death as well as preserve evidence.
"It is vital that all efforts are made to ensure there are independent and effective investigations into what happened in Bucha to ensure truth, justice and accountability, as well as reparations and remedy for victims and their families," Bachelet said in a statement.
The discovery of a large number of civilian bodies in Bucha brought a flat denial from the Kremlin on Monday that Russia was responsible.
"We categorically reject all charges," spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, saying Russian Defense Ministry experts found signs of "video tampering" and "fakes" in footage presented by Ukrainian authorities.
“Judging by what we have seen, we cannot trust these video images,” he said, calling on foreign leaders not to make "hasty accusations" against Moscow and to "at least listen to Russian arguments".
Independent journalists have seen, filmed and photographed the bodies found in Bucha and elsewhere, some in areas occupied by Russian forces only hours before. Locals have described civilians being shot in cold blood by Russian troops.
Human Rights Watch said it has "documented several cases of Russian military forces committing laws-of-war violations against civilians in occupied areas of the Chernihiv, Kharkiv, and Kiev regions".
The European Union’s top diplomat has joined a growing chorus of international criticism blaming the Russian armed forces for alleged atrocities committed against civilians in Ukraine.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said, “The Russian authorities are responsible for these atrocities, committed while they had effective control of the area. They are subject to the international law of occupation.”
Borrell said Monday that the “haunting images of large numbers of civilian deaths and casualties, as well as destruction of civilian infrastructures show the true face of the brutal war of aggression Russia is waging against Ukraine and its people.”
Working with the US, UK and other international partners, the EU has been ramping up sanctions against Russia since it invaded Ukraine in February. Borrell says the 27-country bloc “will advance, as a matter of urgency, work on further sanctions against Russia.”
Among the worldwide condemnation of the alleged murder of civilians by Russian troops in Bucha, near Kiev, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said: "Those responsible for these egregious and appalling attacks will be brought to justice."
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Monday that “we strongly condemn attacks on civilians” following reports of bodies found with signs of torture in areas abandoned by Russian forces. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno called for firm investigations by the International Criminal Court over Moscow’s “war crimes”.
Israel’s foreign minister has condemned the reported atrocities in Ukraine, saying deliberate harm to civilians is a war crime. Foreign Minister Yair Lapid wrote on Twitter that one “cannot remain indifferent” after seeing images from the town of Bucha near Ukraine capital.
Israel has walked a tightrope since Russia invaded Ukraine, simultaneously denouncing the invasion while avoiding taking too strident a stance out of concern of angering Moscow, with whom it has security coordination in neighboring Syria.
Israel has good relations with both countries and has mediated between them since the invasion on Feb. 24.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called reports of rape and other atrocities by Russian soldiers “beyond reprehensible.”
“Russia must answer to the world for what they’ve done,” she said, adding that her Cabinet considered on Monday further measures New Zealand could take to support Ukraine and send a strong message to Moscow.
The Polish Prime Minister called on Monday to create an international commission of inquiry into what he called "genocide" committed by the Russian army in Ukrainian cities, including Bucha.
"These bloody massacres committed by Russians, Russian soldiers, deserve to be called by their name. It is genocide, and it must be judged," Mateusz Morawiecki told reporters. "This is why we are proposing to set up an international commission to investigate this crime of genocide."
His words were echoed by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who also spoke on Monday of a possible "genocide" in Ukraine after the massacre of civilians uncovered in Bucha, following the withdrawal of Russian troops from near Kiev.
"We will do everything possible to ensure that those who perpetrated these war crimes do not go unpunished and can appear before the courts, in this specific case before the International Criminal Court, to answer for these alleged cases of crimes against humanity, war crimes, and, why not say it also, genocide,” Sanchez told an economic forum.
French President Emmanuel Macron declared himself on Monday "in favor" of the European Union deciding on new sanctions against Russia, citing oil and coal. It follows the discovery of hundreds of civilian bodies in the Kiev region, particularly in Bucha.
His appeal echoes that of Germany, whose defense minister said on Sunday that European officials should talk about halting gas supplies from Russia.
"What happened in Bucha requires a new set of sanctions and very clear measures," the French president told France Inter radio. "So we will coordinate with our European partners, especially Germany" in "the coming days", he added, referring to individual sanctions and measures on "coal and oil".
"We must send the signal that it is our collective dignity and our values that we are defending," he said, citing events in Mariupol in particular.
Macron described the images from Bucha as "unbearable", adding that "there are very clear indications today of war crimes" for which Russian forces were responsible.
"International justice must pass. Those who were at the origin of these crimes will have to answer for it," he said, because "there will be no peace without justice". — Euronews
