HITTING BACK
Boris Johnson slams Russia’s ‘despicable attacks’ against Ukrainians – saying ‘we will not rest until justice is done’
BORIS Johnson has slammed Russia's "despicable attacks" against Ukrainians - and warned: "We will not rest until justice is done."
The PM spoke out after horrifying photos of massacred civilians in the streets of Bucha, near Kyiv, emerged last night.
6
6
6
At least 20 bodies, all in civilian clothing, were seen in a single road.
Ukrainian officials say 410 people have been found dead in towns near Kyiv so far, with 300 killed in Bucha alone, with 57 bodies found in one mass grave there.
Among those found dead was a 14-year-old boy.
Many victims were reported to have their hands tied behind their backs, with the Ukrainian passport of one of those left open beside his body.
Read more on the war in Ukraine
There have also been widespread reports of rapes and the Kremlin’s soldiers “mutilating children”.
In nearby Irpin, one report claimed Russian kill squads shot women and girls and then drove over them in tanks. Moscow’s fighters booby-trapped corpses, sources added.
At the time of the murders, Chechen forces controlled the area, it's claimed.
Russia has denied allegations it targeted civilians.
Most read in The Sun
Moscow says no residents suffered any violence from Russian forces and accused Kyiv of staging the horrific scenes for western media.
But Mr Johnson warned the sickening images are evidence Russia is committing war crimes in Ukraine.
And he said Britain will step up sanctions and military aid in response.
He said: “I will do everything in my power to starve Putin's war machine.
“No denial or disinformation from the Kremlin can hide what we all know to be the truth - Putin is desperate, his invasion is failing, and Ukraine’s resolve has never been stronger.
“We are stepping up our sanctions and military support, as well as bolstering our humanitarian support package to help those in need on the ground.
“The UK has been at the forefront of supporting the International Criminal Court’s investigation into atrocities committed in Ukraine.
“The Justice Secretary has authorised additional financial support and the deployment of specialist investigators - we will not rest until justice is served.”
AFP journalists said at least nine of the bodies found in Bucha appeared to have been executed, including two whose hands were tied behind their backs.
At least three were naked from the waist up while another man had his Ukrainian passport left open beside him.
Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba told Times Radio: “Russia is worse than ISIS. They were killing civilians while leaving - out of anger and just because they wanted to kill.
“We are still gathering bodies but the number has already gone into hundreds.”
Boxing legend Wladimir Klitshcko posted a Twitter video in Bucha he said showed civilians "shot in the head with their hands tied behind their back".
He said: "This is not a special military operation. This is genocide."
President Volodymyr Zelensky also condemned the killings on US television.
He told CBS program Face the Nation: "This is genocide. The elimination of the whole nation and the people.
"We are the citizens of Ukraine. We have more than 100 nationalities.
It comes as...
- Vladimir Putin could be ousted in a ‘palace coup’ by his cronies within TWO YEARS, says intel analysts
- Kremlin brazenly complains after Ukraine destroys fuel depot on Russian soil moaning that attack will hamper peace talks
- Russia vows to target British weapons & accuses UK of escalating war in Ukraine as tensions rage
- Vladimir Putin’s forces mining homes and corpses & ‘using children as human shields’
"This is about the destruction and extermination of all these nationalities."
Bucha's mayor, Anatoly Fedoruk, said "all these people were shot," adding 280 other bodies had been buried in mass graves elsewhere in the town.
Zelensky's spokesman told the BBC: "It looks exactly like war crimes.
"We found mass graves. We found people with their hands and with their legs tied up... and with shots, bullet holes, in the back of their head.
"They were clearly civilians and they were executed."
'Weapon of war'
Earlier Britain's Foreign Secretary Liz Truss called for the attacks to be "investigated as war crimes" insisting: "We will not allow Russia to cover up their involvement in these atrocities through cynical disinformation."
Referring to towns on the outskirts of Kyiv, she said: “As Russian troops are forced into retreat, we are seeing increasing evidence of appalling acts by the invading forces in towns such as Irpin and Bucha.
“Their indiscriminate attacks against innocent civilians during Russia’s illegal and unjustified invasion of Ukraine must be investigated as war crimes.”
Melinda Simmons, Britain’s ambassador to Ukraine, blasted: “Rape is a weapon of war. Though we don’t yet know the full extent of its use in Ukraine, it’s already clear it was part of an arsenal.
"Women raped in front of their kids, girls in front of their families, as a deliberate act of subjugation. Rape is a war crime.”
The International Criminal Court in The Hague has already opened a probe into possible war crimes committed in Ukraine.
Several Western leaders, including US President Joe Biden, have accused Russia's Vladimir Putin of being a "war criminal".
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the images a “punch in the gut” and that those responsible must be held accountable.
A US State Department spokesman hinted at additional action against Russia coming “very soon”.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also vowed harder-hitting sanctions.
Booby traps
Human Rights Watch also said it had documented cases of Russian troops committing possible war crimes against civilians in occupied areas of Chernigiv, Kharkiv and Kyiv, including rape and summary execution.
It comes as Ukraine said it had regained control of the Kyiv region, with Russian troops retreating from around the capital and Chernigiv city.
Ukrainian officials said on Saturday their forces had taken back more than 30 towns and villages around Kyiv, claiming complete control of the capital region for the first time since Russia launched its invasion.
"The whole Kyiv region is liberated from the invader," Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar wrote on Facebook.
However, it's feared soldiers are now regrouping for a renewed attack on the east.
And before withdrawing, they razed homes to the ground, mined the roads and forced millions from their homes.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Read More on The Sun
President Zelensky warned in a video address: "They are mining all this territory. Houses are mined, equipment is mined, even the bodies of dead people."
Ukraine's emergencies service said more than 1,500 explosives had been found in one day during a search of the village of Dmytrivka, west of the capital.
6
6
6
Topics