Global outrage mounts as Ukraine accuses retreating Russians of civilian massacre
CBC
Warning: This story contains images of dead bodies.
As foreign outrage mounts over evidence of possible executions and other atrocities by Russian forces in Ukraine, Germany's defence minister says Europe must consider stepping up penalties for Moscow by boycotting its gas exports, an economically painful step European leaders previously avoided.
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. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called reports of rape and other atrocities by Russian soldiers "beyond reprehensible."
Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelensky appealed in a video shown during the Grammy Awards in Las Vegas for musicians and other artists to help tell the story of Russia's invasion. "Support us in any way you can," Zelensky said.
Also Sunday, at least seven people were killed and 34 wounded, including three children, by Russian shelling of Kharkiv in the northeast, Ukraine's second-biggest city, according to the regional prosecutor's office. In the Black Sea port of Mykolaiv, regional Gov. Vitaliy Kim said at least one person died in shelling and 14 were wounded.
Ukrainian officials said bodies of 410 civilians were found in towns around the capital, Kyiv, that were recaptured from Russian forces.
In Bucha, northwest of the capital, Associated Press journalists saw 21 bodies. One group of nine, all in civilian clothes, were scattered around a site that residents said Russian troops used as a base. They appeared to have been shot at close range. At least two had their hands tied behind their backs.
Zelensky called the killings evidence of genocide, but Russia's Defence Ministry rejected the accusation. It said photos and videos of dead bodies "have been stage managed by the Kyiv regime for the Western media."
The ministry said "not a single civilian" in Bucha faced any violent military action and the mayor did not mention any abuses a day after Russian troops left.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's Feb. 24 invasion has killed thousands of people and forced more than 4 million Ukrainians to flee their country. Putin has said the attack is aimed at eliminating a security threat after Ukraine's government pursued membership in the U.S.-European NATO military alliance.
The head of Ukraine's delegation in talks with Russia said Moscow's negotiators informally agreed to most of a draft proposal discussed during talks in Istanbul, but no written confirmation has been provided. Russian demands include Ukraine declaring itself neutral and renouncing membership in military alliances.
Russian forces retreated from some areas around Kyiv after Moscow said it was focusing its offensive on the country's east, where two regions are controlled by Russian-backed separatists. Russian troops had rolled into Bucha in the early days of the invasion and stayed up until March 30.
The reports of atrocities are severe enough that European officials "would have to talk about halting gas supplies from Russia," German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht said on public broadcaster ARD. "Such crimes must not go unanswered."
Europe gets 40 per cent of its gas and 25 per cent of its oil from Russia, while such sales are the Kremlin's main source of export revenue.
The Rachel Notley government's consumer carbon tax wound up becoming a weapon the UCP wielded to drum the Alberta NDP out of office. But that levy-and-repayment program, and the wide-ranging "climate leadership plan" around it, also stood as the NDP's boldest, provincial-reputation-altering move in their single-term tenure.