Ukraine Updates: Zelenskyy Tells UN That Russia Committed War Crimes in Bucha
The war crimes in Bucha are “just the tip of the iceberg.”
Day 41. Russia will not stop. The Bucha massacre will likely trigger more sanctions but it will not put a dent in anything.
Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kulebo said that Mariupol is worse than Bucha. Now you know why I mention Mariupol a lot.
Live stream:
Zelenskyy Accuses Russia of War Crimes to the UN
From The Associated Press:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russian troops of gruesome atrocities in Ukraine and told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday that those responsible should immediately be brought up on war crimes charges in front of a tribunal like the one set up at Nuremberg after World War II.
Zelenskyy, appearing via video from Ukraine, told council members that civilians had been shot in the back of the head after being tortured, blown up with grenades in their apartments and crushed to death by tanks while in cars.
“They cut off limbs, cut their throats. Women were raped and killed in front of their children. Their tongues were pulled out only because their aggressor did not hear what they wanted to hear from them,” he said, recounting what he described as the worst atrocities since World War II.
Likening the troops’ actions to those of Islamic State, Zelenskyy said: “The Russian military and those who gave them orders must be brought to justice immediately for war crimes in Ukraine.”
“Anyone who has given criminal orders and carried them out by killing our people will be brought before the tribunal which should be similar to the Nuremberg tribunals,” he said.
Mayor, Family Found Murdered and Buried in Shallow Grave
Evil:
The bodies of the mayor of a Ukrainian village outside Kyiv and her husband and adult son were reportedly found in a shallow grave after the three were abducted by Russian occupying forces.
Mayor of the Village of Motyzhyn, Olga Sukhenko, was “unfortunately killed in captivity by the Russians,” Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk confirmed.
“This is a war crime,” Vereshchuk said in an address of Sukhenko’s killing. “The guilty will inevitably be punished in accordance with international humanitarian law.”
Vereshchuk said there are 11 mayors and community heads in Russian captivity across Ukraine, including leaders from Kyiv, Kherson, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv and Donetsk regions.
Red Cross Cannot Evacuate People in Mariupol
A convoy of seven buses with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) intended to evacuate people from Mariupol, Ukraine, was reportedly stopped Monday on the way to its destination and is being held by police in nearby Manhush.
“A team from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is being held in the town of Manhush, 20 kilometers west of Mariupol,” ICRC spokesperson Jason Straziuso said, according to Reuters. He said police were holding the convoy but clarified that it was “not a hostage situation.”
Zelenskyy: Russians Killed and Tortured Over 300 in Bucha
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Russians killed and tortured over 300 people in Bucha:
Zelensky accused Russian forces of killing and torturing more than 300 civilians in the formerly occupied city of Bucha, where evidence of alleged Russian war crimes have been discovered.
The BBC cannot independently verify this claim.
“We have just begun an investigation into all that the occupiers have done,” Zelensky said.
“At present, there is information about more than three hundred people killed and tortured in Bucha alone. It is likely that the list of victims will be much larger when the whole city is checked. And this is only one city.”
“There is already information that the number of victims of the occupiers may be even higher in Borodyanka and some other liberated cities,” he went on.
“In many villages of the liberated districts of the Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy regions, the occupiers did things that the locals had not seen even during the Nazi occupation 80 years ago. The occupiers will definitely bear responsibility for this.”
Mariupol is Worse
It’s horrible what happened in Bucha, but we must not forget Mariupol:
More now from the joint press conference this afternoon between UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and her Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba.
In addition to calling for a “tough new wave of sanctions” from the UK and its allies to stop Putin’s war efforts, Truss backed Kuleba’s call for Russia to be expelled from the European Human Rights Council after “appalling crimes” including the killing of civilians in Bucha.
Kuleba said any G7 and EU nations countries that “still have doubts” and are continuing to trade with Russia – by buying fossil fuels, for example – should make their minds up by visiting any of the mass graves in Ukraine.
The horrors seen in Bucha are “just the tip of the iceberg” of what war crimes have been committed by Russian forces, Kuleba added.
“I can tell you without exaggeration, but with great sorrow, that the situation in Mariupol is much worse,” he said.
Tens of thousands of civilians remain trapped in the south-eastern port city of Mariupol, which has been reduced to rubble by weeks of Russian shelling.
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Comments
To the hammer, everything is a nail.
Has anyone asked Bernie Sanders what he thinks about his beloved Russia today in light of previous remarks deeming their previous reigns of terror as necessary? Is this one necessary too? Does he envision such a reign of terror for us?
Wasn’t Bernie’s love for the Soviet Union? Did it linger on after the USSR collapsed?
Mariupol is almost certainly going to have more casualties. The fighting was more intense and there has been a low intensity conflict in the Donbas for several years. There are likely to be more bodies discovered some with evidence of torture or worse.
The problem is going to be determination of who did what. Keep in mind the population in the east has a significant number of people who want the Russians to succeed. The residents opposed to the Russians are squared off against the Regular Russian Army and motivated militias composed of their neighbors. Do not forget that the Azov units are concentrated in this area.
The east is in many respects in a civil war with an invasion overlayed onto it. All of which means very unsavory tactics were likely used by both sides as is common when ordinary folks use war as an excuse for vengeance. Mariupol is definitely going to have lots of disturbing images, the propaganda efforts of all parties will seek to affix blame on each other.
Bluntly , I don’t believe the Ukranians.
In part because of the time gap between the Russians leaving Bucha, the mayor’s announcement of such as the “orcs have left”, and days later we suddenly have reports of bodies.
In part because of the timing of Ukranians torturing Russian soldiers, and posting the vids themselves because they thought it was cool.
In part because I try to picture how you get those bodies strewn, like that, if you’re massacring people. Too neat. If gunned down as running, where is the blood, why all face down? If grouped together for a mass slaughter, why spread out like that?
In part because of credible reports that the Azov types – who for years have had credible reports of abuses and atrocities that have been buried now from organizations like HRW and Amnesty – have been preventing evacuations, setting up near civilian targets, etc. – why are we siding with Nazis again?
In part because so many claims from Ukraine are BS, starting with a certain Ghost, supposedly sunk ships, etc., and multiple after-action videos that, if you pay attention to the background, are all taken at the same place.
In part because Soros and the globalists are all in on hating Russia
In part because we’re actively blocked from hearing counter claims unless you go digging – like the Turkish media following up on a “mosque attack” only to discover from the manager of said mosque that said claims were bullshit.
In part because the claims fly in the face of the strategic-level of behavior. If the Russians wanted to cause misery, they could easily take out the power grid, the comms grid, the plumbing, the heating, and everything else. Every video of brave Ukranians standing up to APCs flies in the face of claims of civvies being killed as a matter of policy.
Why are we believing the people that lied to us for years about Trump, vaccines, and everything else?
I agree.
The sad thing is I spent most of my career training to fight against them, don’t like, trust or believe anything they say or do and honestly don’t doubt there have been a few isolated incidences of legitimate (by definition and charge) “war crimes” committed by individuals in this action. (Every side in every war commits a few)
All of that said and true, right now the Russians have the greater credibility against the Ukrainians and their claims. I don’t believe anything the Ukrainians say right now.
Consider the sources: Associated Press, ABC, MSNBC, Fox News. A month ago conservatives didn’t believe a word they said. Looks like they are winning back a lot of lost customers.
As for me, color me skeptical.
I long ago decided not to “trust” the news from either side, given that the American MSM is so clearly pulling another “we’re all in this together” dance routine on us; that Ukraine is looking more and more like America’s Miranda every day; and that nobody in the Biden Administration has yet dared to make comment one on the subject of the huge Nazi elephant in the room. (And not mere neo-Nazis, as one commentator points out, but genuine OG Nazis.)
I’ll wait until our own world’s Mr. Universe analog (Glenn Greenwald? Sharyl Atkisson? Russell Brand? Joe Rogan?) gets around to broadcasting the truth to us about the swamp Disneyland that is or was Ukraine. Then I may believe half of that.
Sadly our media seems to be forgetting a very basic principle when viewing events and attempting to sort out elusive facts:
Cui Bono; who benefits?
In the case of Bucha claims the clear primary beneficiary is Ukraine. Public opinion is swinging to them with demand that the US govt should become directly involved in the conflict.
The secondary beneficiary are those in the US govt, primarily at State and IC, who wanted increased US involvement in this area where they had boots on the ground ‘advisors’ since at least 2014 until they were ordered out in Feb 2022.
The tertiary beneficiary is Biden ‘see I told you that Putin was guilty of war crimes’. Finally never forget about the defense contractors whose profits are directly tied to the use of their products and the expenditure of their munitions and ordinance.
I wish we didn’t have a system where we had to look behind the curtain to see the truth. One where we didn’t have to be skeptical at least initially, when reviewing govt announcements and media reports.
The BBC who reported this story prominently disclaimed that they were unable to independently verify these claims. That doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. It does mean we do not know who did what, when or why.
Until we know those answers definitely we must resist emotional impulses to take any actions or escalate the situation. To do so would be to allow what can only be described as propaganda to achieve its purpose; deliberate manipulation.
I thought I was just about alone in my skepticism.
It’s better to remain a skeptic than drink kool aid.
Don’t forget the times they have tried to pass off video game footage as battle footage.
This.
Zelensky is no more credible than Putin.
I think it’s especially telling how the MSM (who have lost whatever shred of credibility they might have possessed after lying their arses off for two solid years) daily engage in an extended version of a Two-Minute Hate against Russia/Putin. Whenever the magician tells me to watch his hand carefully, I know the smart thing to do is look in the opposite direction.
This.
Two-Minutes Hate.
We’re All In This Together.
Different verses, same song.
Lots of people to not trust.
Vox Popoli has a post on Exposing False Flag
With a link to
“Vassily Nebenzia, the Permanent Russian Representative to the UN, addressed the attempted false flag in a press briefing today after the UK prevented the subject from being raised in front of the UN Security Council, which tends to imply that the West may have even been actively involved somehow in staging the false flag”.
My suspicion is to be sympathetic, this time, to the Russians. The Ukrainians were shooting Russian prisoners, and Zelensky says, well, they are who they are, and shrugs it off.
My guess is Zelensky is planning on sitting in a nice villa, somewhere warm, with piles of cash, when this is all over. Didn’t the Panama Papers show him with an already impressive account?
I’m bewildered that this propaganda got so many upvotes.
Let’s see..
“the time gap” you refer to doesn’t exist. Timestamped satellite images show bodies in the street during the Russian occupation, that the Russians left there for literally weeks without removing or burying them. On top of that, corpses have decomposed too far to have been sufficiently recent to have died since the Russians left.
“how do you get the bodies strewn like that” by murdering people in the street
“where is the blood” washed away by the rain
“why all face down” they’re not all face down
“if grouped together for a mass slaughter, why all spread out” pretends there was only one slaughter. The strewn bodies in the street were slaughtered in the street. The grouped together bodies behind a building were grouped together. The 280 bodies in a mass grave.. well, still waiting to hear how they died.
“credible reports that the Azov types” By all means demand and seek investigation and prosecution of war crimes committed by members of the Azov battalion. Stop using allegations from the East of Ukraine to distract from Russian war crimes near Kiev. Oh, and if you have video of Azov members murdering civilians, or evidence that they’ve caused the need for mass graves, do share – because we have that for the Russian war crimes.
“why are we siding with Nazis” assumes “we” are siding with “Nazis”. I’m certainly not – as mentioned above, if people are committing war crimes, lets investigate and prosecute. If they’re committing genocide, let’s investigate and prosecute. If they’re implementing Autarky, forcing teachers to join their political organisation, establishing labour reform then by all means condemn them.
“a certain Ghost” was not a Ukrainian Government claim and Ukrainians laughed at it
“supposedly sunk ships” like this one? https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIWmih3ny5AJOZ5ndMarUcWIBXc5h6r3zHEOtOEW5af4t0qHNETovZ7e6HJivTyD_mO_-SSPl5nixdNjGNkrU3pBtsw-Rjei_YhtKBAhYN9b2ZX_4erRySCq3CZWxOJ5IYauu_sOLy_vvjUfip-gUSY4ZQ7DU1Jw_CXeGiB24UCEQEpD94pRh3ohOi/s16000/69.png
Looks pretty sunk to me.
“all taken at the same place” If you think all the “after action videos” are all taken in the same place then you need to broaden your viewing habits.
Or ignore them and just look at the over 400 photographs of Russian tanks that have been destroyed, abandoned or captured.
“because Soros and the globalists” is frankly a weird digression. Genocidal China has an arrest warrant out for Soros and still manages to describe the war crimes in Bucha as “deeply disturbing”.
“mosque attack” isn’t something I’ve even heard of. Looking it up online there are two sources, one of which may not even contradict the other. But there has been misinformation – intentional or otherwise – from Ukraine, so I’ll give you this one. Although: How much money would you bet on that mosque still being intact three weeks later?
“strategic-level of behavior” just suggests that Russian generals aren’t trying to commit genocide. They’re merely failing to prevent their troops from doing so.
“matter of policy” is entirely fucking irrelevant. There are videos of Russians murdering civilians. Whether it’s policy or not isn’t something those dead people really care about. They’re dead. They’ve been murdered. It’s happening at a wide scale.
“the people that lied to us” can tell and share whatever stories they like. Other sources are providing reliable traceable referenced evidence of Russian war crimes.
I don’t have to believe the Ukrainians, or the mass media, or Western Governments. Do Ukrainian sources have credibility? It doesn’t fucking matter. There’s plentiful evidence of Russian war crimes, Russians murdering civilians, Russians looting, Russians raping and Russians doing things that aren’t ever justified.
Russian forces have committed widespread war crimes. Stop trying to pretend otherwise.
https://www.sott.net/article/466314-The-truth-about-Bucha-is-out-there-but-perhaps-too-inconvenient-to-be-discovered
Great irony: the “quote of the day” on that page is:
There is no news. There is only the truth of the signal. —Mr. Universe
“Miranda!”
Oh, nice linking of Russian propaganda there. Given the multiple different ways Russia has tried to lie about Bucha, changing its story each time, I think it’s reasonable to assume that Russia knows its soldiers committed warcrimes there and that denials should be derided.
A bit off the subject but why in hell doesn’t the UN end this war. Just a bunch of fat cats living grand. I remember once they met in new york and ate 3 tons of shrimp. The owe NY millions in parking fines and their immunity lets them get away with many many crimes here. We fund the majority of them and for what purpose. Stop funding them Not sure about Ukraine.. Surprised to see some skepticism about all that mess but who knows
How would the UN end this war?
It’s lovely that you want this to happen and I thoroughly support the desire. I’m just not sure it’s terribly achievable, what with the lack of a plan, the lack of concensus at the UN, the lack of a UN army or UN abilities to exert direct influence on Russia.