Muristek
UNITED NATIONS, April 5
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the United Nations Security Council that "accountability must be inevitable" for Russia as he accused Russian troops of committing "the most terrible war crimes" since World War II.
1,430 civilians killed
121 children dead
11 mnhave fled
US, Europe plan more sanctions
The United States and Europe said they were planning new sanctions to punish Moscow over civilian killings in Ukraine, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned more deaths were likely to be uncovered in areas seized from Russian invaders.Russian forces withdrew from towns north of the capital Kyiv last week as it turns its assault to Ukraine's south and east.Ukrainian troops recaptured towns devastated by nearly six weeks of war, including Bucha, where dead civilians lined the streets.Ukraine trying to smear Russia: Kremlin
LONDON: The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Western allegations that Russian forces committed war crimes by executing civilians in the Ukrainian town of Bucha were a "monstrous forgery" aimed at denigrating the Russian army. "It is simply a well-directed but tragic show," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. "It is a forgery aimed at denigrating the Russian army, and it will not work," he said. Reuters
Zelenskyy showed a short video of burned, bloodied and mutilated bodies, including children, in Irpin, Dymerka, Mariupol and Bucha.
He questioned the value of the 15-member UN Security Council, which has been unable to take any action over Russia's February 24 invasion of Ukraine because Moscow is a veto power, along with the United States, France, Britain and China.
"We are dealing with a state that turns its veto at the UN Security Council into the right to (cause) death," Zelenskyy said in a live video address, urging reform of the world body.
"Russia wants to turn Ukraine into silent slaves," he said. Russia's UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the council: "We've heard once again a huge amount of lies about Russian soldiers and military." The United Nations said some 11 million Ukrainians — more than a quarter of the population — have fled their homes. More than 4 million of those people have left Ukraine. Zelenskyy told the UN that the atrocities committed by Russian troops are no different from terrorists like the Islamic State extremists as he demanded immediate action to bring the Kremlin's forces to justice for "war crimes". "Yesterday I returned from our city of Bucha, recently liberated from Russian troops not far from Kiev. There is not a single crime that they would not commit there. The Russian military searched for and purposefully killed anyone who served our country," Zelenskyy said. — Agencies