The horrifying images of the #Bucha#massacre that came to light recently shook the world to the core. The merciless killing of #civilians by the #Russian military deserves every condemnation and it nothing short of #genocide. Russian activities in Bucha represent a clear attempt of #ethniccleansing and the regime responsible for such atrocious acts must be held responsible for crimes against humanity.
The once beautiful town of Bucha today lays completely destroyed. Bodies scattered in the streets. Mass graves. Survivors looking for their loved ones they may never find. What makes these scenes even more disturbing is the fact that this was the reality for the residents of the town for long before the destruction was seen by the rest of the world.
Over two weeks before the Russian army withdrew on March 31st, a #satelliteimage of Bucha appeared to show bodies lying in the street in the exact locations where they were subsequently found by Ukrainian forces. The earliest satelite image showing the bodies in locations where they were subsequently found dates from March 11.
What Bucha experienced during the painful weeks of occupation we cannot begin to imagine. One of the survivors, Volodymyr Abramov, recounted: "Bucha was like an apocalypse - dead bodies everywhere, the streets full of smoke."
Even some of the radio messages intercepted by the German intelligence reveal a portion of the horrors. In one, a soldier is seemingly heard telling another that they had shot a person riding a bike. In another, a man is heard saying, “First you interrogate soldiers, then you shoot them.”, showing that the crimes in Bucha were a planned and deliberate act. With this in mind, there are well-founded fears that even more atrocities and mass graves will be found as the Russians retreat further.
Like many around the world, we are shocked by these horrible crimes and strongly condemn the inhumanity directed against innocent people. In these terrible times we mourn more than 300 victims of this gruesome crime and express our deepest condolences to the families of those whose lives were violently taken.
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