Bucha

Accusations of war crimes and calls for tougher sanctions feature on Monday's front pages amid horror at civilian killings by Russian troops.

The FT reports on the prospect of a full oil and fuel embargo, with European Council president Charles Michel saying further sanctions were on their way in the wake of the Bucha massacre. The FT and the Telegraph focus on the issue of sanctions. Hundreds of civilians have been found in mass graves, it reports, and some had been tied up.

Ukraine accuses Russia of committing a 'massacre' as bodies, mass graves found in destroyed town left by retreating Russian forces.

Some of the bodies were either unburied or partially buried. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that the sight of multiple civilian bodies in Bucha was a “punch to the gut”. “This is not a war, it is a genocide, a genocide of the Ukrainian population.” “We found mass graves. The mass grave is behind a church in the town’s center. AFP on Saturday saw the bodies of at least 22 people in civilian clothes on a single street in Bucha.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Sunday called for an independent investigation into the killing of civilians in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, ...

Conflict began on 24 February, when Russia invaded the country. Posting on Twitter on Friday, Mr. Guterres said the UN “is doing everything in its power to support people whose lives have been overturned by the war in Ukraine.” "Ukrainians are enduring a living hell for more than a month, thousands of civilians have died," she wrote.

Ukraine president says worse atrocities may yet be found elsewhere as satellite images show mass grave near church in Bucha.

Speaking on Times Radio on Sunday, he said Bucha was a “deliberate massacre”. Describing Russia as “worse than Isis”, he said Russian forces were guilty of murder, torture, rape and looting. Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia warned on Monday against inferring much from the withdrawal of Russian forces around Kyiv. “They are now regrouping. The UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, said the “despicable” killings added to evidence of Russian war crimes, while the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, expressed shock about the “terrible and horrifying” footage from Bucha. “Streets littered with bodies. We are now collecting the evidence from the witnesses,” Myroshnychenko said of the recent discoveries in town such as Bucha, Irpin and Hostomel. “Multiple rapes of women, children killed. There is talk of women, children and the elderly among the victims,” Scholz said. Ukrainian officials said the bodies of 410 civilians have been found in Kyiv-area towns that were recently retaken from Russian forces.

Ukrainian prosecutors enter towns on the outskirts of Kyiv for the first time, finding witnesses so traumatised they are "physically unable to speak" as ...

It was a controlled shot to the head." Even the bodies of the dead were booby-trapped." Japan said it would consult with allies on that issue. It has initiated a meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the issue. "He went to get some wood when all of a sudden [the Russians] started shooting. Then they shot him all over [the chest]. And another shot went slightly below the temple. On Sunday, the International Committee of the Red Cross said that a team sent on Saturday to help evacuate residents had yet to reach the city. In Motyzhyn, some 50 kms west of Kyiv, residents told Associated Press on Sunday that Russian troops killed the town's mayor, her husband and her son and threw their bodies into a pit in a pine forest behind houses where Russian forces had slept. As images of the bodies of people whom residents said were killed indiscriminately began to emerge from Bucha, a slew of European leaders condemned the atrocities and called for tougher sanctions against Moscow. Mr Zelenskyy said: "Hundreds of people were killed. She said 140 of the bodies had been examined so far but that she would be asking the Health Ministry to provide as many forensic experts as possible to a field hospital in the Kyiv region. Ukrainian authorities have said many of the bodies have been found with their hands bounds, and with close-range gunshot wounds and signs of torture.

Global outrage is mounting over the discovery of dozens of bodies, some with their hands bound, in towns near the Ukrainian capital after invading Russian ...

In fact, the Defenders of Ukraine need three things above all: weapons, weapons and more weapons. Pictures from #Bucha disprove the belief that we have to seek a compromise at any cost. Shocked by news of atrocities committed by Russian forces. Criminals must be called criminals, brought to justice and sentenced. In a Twitter post, Lapid said one “cannot remain indifferent in the face of the horrific images from the city of Bucha”. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he strongly condemned the reported attacks on civilians in Ukrainian towns on the outskirts of Kyiv “as violation to international law”. Johnson called the attacks in the towns of Irpin and Bucha “despicable” and said he “will do everything in my power to starve Putin’s war machine”. All cases must be pursued, namely by @CIJ_ICJ. This is the reality of what’s going on every single day as long as Russia’s brutality against Ukraine continues.” The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said he was shocked by the news of “atrocities committed by Russian forces” and said the bloc will assist Ukraine in documenting war crimes. We can’t normalise this. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the images coming out of Bucha were “a punch to the gut” and promised to help Ukraine document “war crimes” being committed by the Russian troops.

Russia has denied committing war crimes in the Kyiv region after images of civilian corpses sparked condemnation.

They hit him a bit above the heel, crushing the bone, and he fell down,” Herega told Al Jazeera. “The shooter shouted: ‘Don’t scream or I will shoot!’ and they turned away. “He went to get some wood when all of a sudden they [Russians] started shooting. It was a controlled shot to the head,” she added. Russia has denied committing war crimes in the Kyiv region after images of civilian corpses sparked international condemnation. Russia has denied committing war crimes in the Kyiv region after images of civilian corpses sparked international condemnation.

Vladimir stands on the edge of a mass grave in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv. He holds his hands to his head, then up to the sky.

The lifeless bodies of at least 20 civilian men line a single street in the town of Bucha. Some lie face down on the pavement while others are collapsed on ...

Europe pledges further sanctions against Russia amid reports of 'haunting images of atrocities'

The evidence of atrocities emerged against a backdrop of faltering peace talks. If Ukrainians can capitalise on that they can potentially roll back the Russians.” He also urged G7 countries to impose “devastating” sanctions immediately. The country’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said the images from Bucha were “unbearable”. Russia’s actions in Bucha were consistent with more than a century of military practice, said Jack Watling, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute. “Anyone saying that Bucha is the result of brutalisation or rogue behaviour is wrong. This was the plan.

Ukraine on Sunday accused the Russian army of having committed a "massacre" in Bucha, a town northwest of Kyiv recently retaken by Ukrainian troops, ...

Some of the bodies were either unburied or partially buried. "We found mass graves. U. S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that the sight of multiple civilian bodies in Bucha was a "punch to the gut." "This is not a war, it is a genocide, a genocide of the Ukrainian population." The mass grave is behind a church in the town's center. The corpses of 57 people were found in a mass grave, the chief of local rescue efforts Serhiy Kaplychniy, said as he showed AFP the trench where the bodies lay. AFP on Saturday saw the bodies of at least 22 people in civilian clothes on a single street in Bucha. Ukraine on Sunday accused the Russian army of having committed a "massacre" in Bucha, a town northwest of Kyiv recently retaken by Ukrainian troops, where the bodies of civilians were found in the streets. According to the mayor of Bucha, Anatoliy Fedoruk, the victims were killed by Russian forces with a "bullet in the back of the neck." One of them was on the pavement near a bicycle, others had bags of provisions near them. Bucha was occupied by the Russian army on the third day of the war, on Feb. 26, and remained inaccessible for more than a month. Communal workers carry a body of a civilian man in town of Bucha, not far from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on April 3, 2022.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and former heavyweight champion boxer Wladimir Klitschko have described civilian deaths in Bucha as "genocide of the Ukrainian ...

and say 'yes we did do that, but you do the same', pointing to some kind of moral equivalence in the West. but it may be easier at the bottom level". working in their own little friendship groups". Even the bodies of the dead are booby-trapped. The ICC lists examples such as "intentionally directing attacks... "Russian troops famously have a low level of non-commissioned officers - who are there to keep the troops in order and are in charge of their behaviour. "Concentrated evil has visited our land. Their journalists say they have seen 21 bodies, with at least one group of nine all in civilian clothes. there are schools, nurseries and parks." "The deliberate targeting of civilians is a war crime, in and of itself, every day of the week," he said. The town centre is lined with shops… Bodies on the streets.

The U.S. and its European allies are preparing to deliver another slew of sanctions on Russia following mounting evidence of war crimes.

And one of the results is that the Russian economy is reeling," Blinken told CNN in an interview Sunday, although he did not share details of any potential future penalties." Its currency has seen volatile swings and its central bank has more-than doubled interest rates, while the withdrawal of hundreds of foreign companies from the country has triggered waves of job losses. Some 40% of Europe's gas is provided by Russia — and Germany imports almost 60% of its natural gas from the country. The U. S. and its European allies are preparing to deliver another slew of sanctions on Russia following mounting evidence of war crimes committed by its forces in Ukraine."The European Union condemns in the strongest possible terms the reported atrocities committed by the Russian armed forces in a number of occupied Ukrainian towns, that have now been liberated," a statement from the European Council said on Monday. Ukraine has accused Russian forces of carrying out a massacre in the town of Bucha, where it said 300 residents were killed. "The massacres in the town of Bucha and other Ukrainian towns will be inscribed in the list of atrocities committed on European soil," the European Council's statement said. "It's Germany that is the main roadblock on sanctions," Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Monday. So far, Berlin has refused to embargo oil and gas imports from Russia, saying that Europe depends too heavily upon them.

The E.U. has worked with the United States and other allies to hit Russia with sanctions packages and other penalties, but it continues to buy Russian oil ...

As calls mounted for Germany to cut itself off from Russian energy supplies, Monday also brought a stark reminder of the competing pressure on the government. Macron said more forceful sanctions are necessary to prevent similar devastation in other parts of Ukraine. “We are going to coordinate with our European partners, in particular with Germany,” he said. Europe imports about 40 percent of its gas and more than a quarter of its oil from Russia; the United States and Britain import far less.

Survivor of alleged Russian atrocities recounts his ordeal as analysts say development marks wake-up call for West.

Others were found in mass graves, barely covered with soil and garbage. To many in the West, the Bucha killings became a wake-up call, the first chance to see the scope of mass killings of civilians that amount to war crimes – or even genocide. Several bodies were found inside apartments and houses with gaping holes made by shells and explosions. The ministry claimed on Sunday that all Bucha residents “had the opportunity to freely leave”, and claimed that the southern suburbs “were fired at around the clock by Ukrainian troops”. I saw it all, they are still lying there, not everyone was collected,” Matsenko said. His story confirms the scope of the mass killings of civilians that became evident – and visible – only after Ukrainian forces and journalists entered Bucha on March 31.

Russian invaders are now treating the entirety of the Ukrainian population as combatants, as dirt to be cleansed.

Or they should invoke the toll of Bucha: bodies, wrapped in black bags, piled like firewood into the back of a van collecting the corpses from the streets. But the murders at Bucha are merely one entry in a litany of atrocities. The Russian invaders are now treating the entirety of the population as combatants, as dirt to be cleansed. Low-ranking soldiers were required to make the decision to kill, again and again, despite the screams, becoming inured to the routine of murder. Along with several dozen other Ukrainians, she found herself hustled into a small square, next to the office of a storage-rental firm. And while the invaders struggled to realize their overarching plan, they gained a toehold in Bucha.

The apparent discovery comes as Ukraine's forces recapture towns from Russian troops across the country, which became involved in a full-scale war on Feb. 24 ...

“We are the citizens of Ukraine and we don’t want to be subdued. Investigators could issue an arrest warrant if prosecutors can show “reasonable grounds to believe” war crimes were committed. The Associated Press also saw two bodies wrapped in plastic, bound with tape and thrown into a ditch. “If it keeps happening again and again and the strategy appears to be to target civilians in urban areas, then that can be very powerful evidence of an intent to do so,” Alex Whiting, a visiting professor at Harvard Law School, told Reuters. “We strongly condemn the murder of civilians in Ukraine, remain committed to holding the Russian regime accountable, and will continue to do everything we can to support the people of Ukraine,” he tweeted. For most charges, that requires proving intent, and one way prosecutors could do it is to show there were no military targets in the area of an attack, and that it was not an accident. On Monday, the Kremlin categorically denied any accusations related to the murder of civilians in Bucha, and said Ukrainian allegations on the matter should be treated with doubt. Even before Bucha, Ukraine and its Western allies accused Russian forces of targeting civilians indiscriminately, referencing the bombing in the southern port of Mariupol of a maternity hospital and a theatre marked as housing children. It had a population of roughly 35,000 before the war began, and is a neighbour to the towns of Irpin and Hostomel. Shapravskyi said Moscow’s troops withdrew late last week from Bucha. Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said scores of killed civilians found on the streets of Bucha, and the Kyiv suburbs of Irpin and Hostomel, looked like a “scene from a horror movie.” Over the weekend, news outlets began to report the deaths of civilians in the streets of Bucha as Ukrainian forces reentered the town. Reporters with Reuters and The Associated Press saw the bodies of people in civilian clothes who appeared to have been killed at close range.

In the Ukrainian town of Bucha, dead bodies have been found along with mass graves after Russian forces withdrew from the area. It is on the outskirts of ...

You may click on “Your Choices” below to learn about and use cookie management tools to limit use of cookies when you visit NPR’s sites. If you click “Agree and Continue” below, you acknowledge that your cookie choices in those tools will be respected and that you otherwise agree to the use of cookies on NPR’s sites. NPR’s sites use cookies, similar tracking and storage technologies, and information about the device you use to access our sites (together, “cookies”) to enhance your viewing, listening and user experience, personalize content, personalize messages from NPR’s sponsors, provide social media features, and analyze NPR’s traffic.

President Joe Biden on Monday called the atrocities allegedly committed by Russian forces in Bucha, Ukraine, a "war crime" and called for a trial to take ...

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called the deaths of civilians in Bucha a "brutality" and said "I strongly welcome" an investigation by International Criminal Court, which has opened an investigation into war crimes in Ukraine.The Russian Ministry of Defense claimed the extensive footage of dead civilians in Bucha was "fake" and that "not a single local resident suffered from any violent actions" during Russia's occupation of the town. Biden's assessment that the killings did not amount to a genocide puts him at odds with that of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who used the term during an interview with CBS on Sunday."This guy (Putin) is brutal and what's happening in Bucha is outrageous and everyone's seen it," Biden said.Images released this weekend show civilian bodies strewn across a street following the withdrawal of Russian forces, and CNN reporters observed a mass grave in the town, with residents saying they believe at least 150 people are buried there.The scenes out of the Kyiv suburb of Bucha have drawn international outrage, with Western leaders calling for war crimes investigations and fresh sanctions against Russia.US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that the State Department would help document any attacks by Russian troops against Ukrainian civilians. President Joe Biden on Monday called the atrocities allegedly committed by Russian forces in Bucha, Ukraine, a "war crime" and called for a trial to take place against Russian President Vladimir Putin.The US President did not, however, label the killings a "genocide" but said he was looking into additional sanctions against Russia.Biden said the images coming from Bucha warranted calling Putin a "war criminal," adding, "but we have to gather the information.

Ukraine's president has called the Russian actions in the town “genocide” and called for the West to apply tougher sanctions against Russia.

“My message to those 140 countries who have courageously stood together is simple: the images out of Bucha and devastation across Ukraine require us now to match our words with action,” Thomas-Greenfield said. And we have to gather all the detail so this can be an actual -- have a war crimes trial,” Biden said. There is another probe by the International Criminal Court, an independent body based in the Netherlands. The US Senate unanimously approved a resolution last month seeking investigations of Putin and elements of his government for war crimes over the invasion of Ukraine. The bodies of 410 civilians have been removed from Kyiv-area towns that were recently retaken from Russian forces, Ukraine’s prosecutor-general, Iryna Venediktova, said. Biden’s comments to reporters came after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Bucha, one of the towns surrounding Kyiv where Ukrainian officials say the bodies of civilians have been found. In his remarks on Monday, Biden made clear that label still applied.

Another resident said he witnessed Russian soldiers killing three civilians by shooting them for no clear reason. Live Briefing: Russia Invades Ukraine.

The bodies of two people in civilian clothes lie on a street in Bucha on April 3. He called on an international panel to investigate the killings in Bucha. The bodies of two people in civilian clothes lie on a street in Bucha on April 3. The hands of one of the bodies are tied behind its back. On Twitter, the U. S. Embassy in Ukraine wrote: "The images coming out of Bucha and other areas abandoned by Putin’s forces are horrific. In one location alone, the correspondent saw up to 10 bodies on the street. President Putin and his supporters will feel the consequences." The hands of one of the bodies are tied behind its back. For these killings, for this torture, for arms blown off by blasts...for the shots in the back of the head," he said. The U.S. government is committed to pursuing accountability using every tool available. The victims appeared to have been killed at close range. "These kinds of orders.

President Biden called the atrocity a “war crime.”

Bucha: A mass grave filled up in the small town north of Kyiv after the morgue, forced to operate without electricity, became intolerable. There were bodies in the streets as early as March 11, well before Russia says it “withdrew completely” from the town. Here are the latest updates.

“There was 70 of the armoured vehicles, like tanks, and Russian soldiers walked alongside,” he said. “It took about 40 minutes for them to pass our house. I ...

On Monday, officials took away five bodies of men seemingly tied up and shot by the Russians in the basement of a summer residence for children. “These are war crimes and will be recognised by the world as genocide,” he said, wearing body armour and surrounded by military personnel. He left the house on 4 March. He walked just 20 metres from the house and the Russians killed him. He was a pilot in the Ukrainian air force. The nextdoor neighbours’ handsome green roof at No 25 was caved in by a direct hit. It was the blood of Russian soldiers who had been hiding inside, evidenced by the discarded food wrappings. “The Russians set up their weapons and a fire in the front garden. Next door, a frame of what was a garage. Here is her note, he had it with him: cigarettes on the shelf near the sofa, pills, groceries, slippers, a blanket. And then the Ukrainians launched their shells at the Russians.” “We were in our cellar the whole time,” Savenko said. It was known as “little Switzerland”, so comfortable was the living.

Senior UN officials have echoed the Secretary-General's call for an independent investigation into the killing of scores of civilians in the Ukrainian town ...

“We continue to call for a ceasefire and peace in Ukraine,” said Ms. Lubrani. “We know that words alone cannot comfort the loss of loved ones or replace action. Osnat Lubrani, UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, highlighted the horrifying violence against civilians in the city and in two other areas near the capital, Irpin and Hostomel, as well as in other parts of the country. The country’s people “have been enduring the living hell of war for more than a month”, and the UN has called for humanitarian pauses so that civilians can leave safely, and aid workers can deliver life-saving relief supplies. She added that every measure should also be taken to preserve evidence. Ms. Lubrani recalled that for UN Member States, protection of civilians is a “bedrock” of their commitments to people worldwide, and in times of war they are further bound to commitments agreed under the Geneva Conventions. The UN in Ukraine has also joined the Secretary-General’s call for a probe into what happened in Bucha.

Good evening. This is your Russia-Ukraine War Briefing, a weeknight guide to the latest news and analysis about the conflict. The U.S. and the E.U. are ...

(The U.S. is also not a treaty member.) Russia also withdrew from the Rome Statute, the treaty that created the I.C.C., which means it would not cooperate with the court. There is no international tribunal set up to prosecute war crimes committed in Ukraine. The establishment of such a court would likely require approval by the United Nations Security Council, where Russia has veto power.

Global outrage grew Monday as more horrific revelations surfaced from Bucha, Ukraine outside Kyiv. Hundreds of Ukrainians died there, many clearly executed ...

The soldiers we're here with say that they were tortured before they died. One of the men with tied hands is shirtless. This was once a quiet suburb of the Ukrainian capital.

Ukraine accuses Russia of atrocities in Kyiv region · Russia says it will present evidence against · Biden urges Putin war crimes trial · U.S., Europe pledge new ...

It has since warned of attacks on Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, which abuts the Russian border. Reuters was not immediately able to verify the report. A team from the International Committee of the Red Cross was stopped during an attempt to reach Mariupol to evacuate civilians, and is now being held in a nearby town, a spokesperson said. "It is easier to dig here," a resident said, saying four bodies were in the improvised grave. The Biden administration said new U. S. sanctions would be announced this week. They were peaceful, kind people." read more In the village of Motyzhyn, west of Kyiv, Reuters reporters saw three bodies in a forest grave. read more Hands and feet poked through red clay at a mass grave by a church where satellite images showed a 45-foot-long trench. Reuters saw one man sprawled by the roadside, his hands bound behind his back and a bullet wound to his head. read more

Satellite photographs released on Monday appear to rebut Russian assertions that dead bodies in civilian clothing found in Bucha had appeared there after ...

A satellite image from March 21 shows the corpse and the vehicles in the same location. This handout satellite image released by Maxar Technologies shows a view of Yablonska Street in Bucha, Ukraine, on March 19, 2022, when bodies of civilians were on the street and found by Ukrainian officials weeks later when Russian forces withdrew This handout satellite image released by Maxar Technologies shows a view of Yablonska Street in Bucha, Ukraine, on March 19, 2022, when bodies of civilians were on the street and found by Ukrainian officials weeks later when Russian forces withdrew

Shocking images show mass graves and dead civilians in Bucha, but Russia strongly denies killing civilians in the ongoing conflict. So, what can we be sure ...

For all the wives and mothers, make peace on Earth so no-one ever grieves again." Ukrainian prosecutor-general Iryna Venediktova told Ukrainian TV that a "similar humanitarian situation" to Bucha existed in other parts of the country where Russian forces recently left, such as the areas around the northern cities of Sumy and Chernihiv. In a statement, the Ukrainian prosecutor-general's office said the bodies of five men with their hands bound were found in the basement of a children's sanatorium where civilians were tortured and killed. Images from around Bucha, seen by the ABC, showed many of the bodies have been lying in the open for weeks, during the time Russian forces had occupied the town. Ukrainian authorities said the bodies of at least 410 civilians were found in areas on the outskirts of Kyiv. But as Russian forces withdrew, reports began to emerge of bodies lying in the streets in Bucha.

Mr Biden called the Russian leader "brutal" and said the killing of civilians in Bucha is "outrageous".

Russia will present "empirical evidence" to the United Nations Security Council that its forces have not been killing civilians in Ukraine and were not involved ...

In the city of Mykolaiv one person died and 14 people were wounded, among them a child," it added. "Who are the masters of provocation? "Our first responsibility is always to ensure the safety of French people and Europeans," it said. "Some places don't have enough supplies of medicine or food," says FRANCE 24 senior reporter Catherine Norris Trent, reporting live from the ground in Kharkiv this morning. France on Monday said it would expel 35 Russian diplomats as part of a joint European action after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. "France decided this evening to expel a number of Russian personnel with diplomatic status stationed in France whose activities are against our security interests," the foreign ministry said in a statement. France on Monday said it would expel 35 Russian diplomats as part of a joint European action after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. "France decided this evening to expel a number of Russian personnel with diplomatic status stationed in France whose activities are against our security interests," the foreign ministry said in a statement. Around 130,000 people remained trapped in the city, he said. So I ask people to wait a bit and not to come back," he added. "First, there is a round-the-clock curfew in several districts of Kyiv region. "We do not rule out the possibility of rocket fire. "We have empirical evidence to support this," Nebenzya said at a press conference. No place for Russia on the UN Human Rights Council.”

Russian forces are being accused of rape, torture and the murder of civilians near Kyiv, with Australia joining US calls for Vladimir Putin to be put on ...

They were tortured before they were killed," said Anton Herashchenko, an adviser to the Ukrainian interior ministry. Many of those buried there had been shot in cars or killed in explosions trying to flee the city, Father Andrii Galavin said. We haven't yet located all the burials, searched all the basements where Russians were torturing people." We haven't yet collected all the testimonies. Bucha was the scene of heavy fighting early in the war as Russian forces advanced on Kyiv from the north-west. "Their hands were tied behind their back and they were shot in the back of the head or in the eyes right on the streets," Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address.

But its scale grew over the weekend as Russian President Vladimir Putin's troops retreated from Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv, revealing indelible evidence of the ...

Instead, it must strengthen their resolve and boost the willpower of all nations supporting Ukraine to decisively defeat the Russian invasion. To begin with, the horrors must be documented. Germany is reliant on Russian natural gas, and reductions will be difficult for all, but closing the valves is becoming more urgent and unavoidable. A prosecutor for the International Criminal Court is investigating, and all efforts must be made to help Ukraine gather evidence. Until now, the world’s response to these crimes has been weak; now it must not be. The Bucha massacre marks a grim turning point in Russia’s invasion, and the world must respond forcefully.

Photos and reports of dead civilians in Bucha and areas around Kyiv as Russian forces retreat have ratcheted up global outrage.

"... It just means the tensions between these two countries, if indeed Ukraine remains a country, will last for generations." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has denounced the killings as "genocide," which is a type of war crime. Ukrainian officials said the bodies of 410 civilians were found in Kyiv-area towns that were recently retaken from Russian forces. The Associated Press said its journalists saw 21 bodies, including nine in civilian clothes apparently shot at close range at a site that locals said was used as a Russian base. Some experts said they doubted international condemnation of the crimes would influence Putin's calculus. Other images from the Kyiv suburb showed bodies scattered in debris-strewn streets and some thrown into a mass grave. "It is nothing new for people who know history. "The scenes out of Ukraine towns and villages and suburbs like Bucha repeat the killing fields of the Holocaust, with mass executions of bound citizens and bullets to the head," he said. "The overwhelming narrative is that it is not Russian soldiers but Ukrainian who staged the scene for foreign journalists to shock the world, or who shot people with white armbands themselves," Aleksejeva said. Russian media has shared images of mass graves and of bodies lying on the streets of Kyiv suburbs and has attributed the deaths to Ukrainian forces, said Nika Aleksejeva, a Latvia-based researcher with the Digital Forensic Research Lab at the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank. But definitely for Ukrainians and for the civilized world, it's a great shock because it was hardly imaginable a such thing happening in the 21st century in the middle of Europe," Omelyan said. "It's very difficult to process it on a human level because all sorts of emotions hit you, and not all of them are useful," Maryan Zablotskyy, a member of Ukrainian parliament, told USA TODAY on Monday as he drove to Lviv. "What this means, not just for Ukraine but for generally the world as a whole, now they truly see the real face of Vladimir Putin – not only him, but also his armed forces."