DIRECT. After the discovery of corpses in Boutcha, Ukraine denounces “a deliberate massacre” by the Russian army, the President of the European Council “shocked”

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11:47 : For its part, Ukraine denounces a “deliberate massacre” in Boutcha.

11:42 : The European Union is helping Ukraine and NGOs to gather the necessary evidence to prosecute them in international courts”adds Charles Michel on Twitter, saying that “d‘other EU sanctions and aid are in progress’.

11:41 a.m. : The President of the European Council Charles Michel says he is “shocked” by the images “of the atrocities committed by the Russian army in the liberated region of kyiv”.

11:36 : Another landscape of devastation, this time in the region of Sumy, in the northeast of the country. This journalist for Release and RFI shows the extent of the destruction in Trostyanets, a city liberated from the yoke of the Russian army.

11:08 : Hello @Sarah. Dozens of corpses, some with their hands tied, have indeed been discovered in the streets of Boutcha, a town near kyiv and liberated by Ukrainian soldiers. The cause of their death is not yet determined. According to the mayor of the city, nearly 300 people had to be buried “in mass graves”. The British Ambassador to Ukraine has condemned “monstrous crimes”.

11:06 : Can you confirm the massacre that took place in Boutcha and what are the reactions of the different countries? Thank you and have a good Sunday.

10:51 a.m. : Images reach us from Odessa, a city in southern Ukraine, where explosions sounded this morning. A fuel depot was bombed, reports Marc de Chalvron, special correspondent for France Télévisions, photo in support.

11:21 a.m. : “The cases we have documented represent unspeakable and deliberate cruelty and violence against Ukrainian civilians”pointed out Hugh Williamson, of the NGO Human Rights Watch, calling for these crimes to be investigated.

11:21 a.m. : Human Rights Watch denounced this morning “war crimes” in Ukraine. In a statement, the NGO says it has “documented several cases where Russian military forces committed violations of the laws of war against civilians in the occupied areas of the Chernihiv, Kharkiv and kyiv regions of Ukraine”.

11:24 : “You can’t even imagine how many civilians have died. The bodies are in the streets. We can’t even count them anymore.”

According to the chaplain of Boutcha, “there is a lot more” only 300 dead. Like its neighbor Irpin, the town was the scene of fierce fighting and is unrecognizable. He calls for help: “I need body bags, respirators and thick rubber gloves. The bags must be able to withstand a weight of 70 to 150 kg.”

09:59 : The entire kyiv region is liberated, according to the Ukrainian authorities. But as these territories are reconquered, the abuses and war crimes of Russian soldiers are increasingly evident. In Boutcha, northwest of kyiv, the authorities, overwhelmed by the number of victims, were forced to bury them in mass graves. The report by Thibault Lefèvre and Benjamin Thuau can be read here.

Ukrainian soldiers patrol the streets of Boutcha northwest of kyiv, liberated from the Russian invasion but devastated, on April 2, 2022. (RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP)

09:22 : A France 2 team was able to access the center of Mariupol and reports, with supporting images, how devastated the city is. “The residents still there are desperate. They bury their relatives or their neighbors at the foot of their building. The children say that they have become accustomed to incessant shooting”reports journalist Alexandra Dalsbaek on Twitter.

11:31 a.m. : Thomas Pellerin-Carlin, researcher at the Delors Institute, believes that accelerating the energy transition is “fundamental for the economy”. “It makes more sense to renovate houses than to finance gas purchases for five years. As long as we depend on gas, we depend on many things that we do not control.” The article can be found here.

11:32 am : We will therefore have to accelerate the energy transition, European countries have no choice, according to Nicolas Goldberg, gas specialist: “Whether or not, we are going to have to save energy and massively develop renewable energies to be independent of Russia.”

09:08 : If the question of dependence on Russian hydrocarbons is so pressing, it is because Moscow is by far the leading supplier of gas to the European Union, at 44%, but also of oil, at 25%. A proportion not easy to cut at once.

11:32 am : While the European Union (EU) is 44% dependent on Russian gas, will the crisis be an opportunity to review the energy future of European countries and to invest in renewable energies for the countries of the EU dependent on Russia? Researchers I interviewed in this article want to believe it

Nearly 40% of the gas imported from the European Union comes from Russia.  Until when ?  (ELLEN LOZON / FRANCEINFO)
(ELLEN LOZON / FRANCEINFO)

08:32 : A series of explosions was heard this morning in Odessa, the main port of Ukraine, on the Black Sea, in the south-west of the country, noted an AFP journalist. The explosions, which occurred around 6 a.m., sent up at least three columns of black smoke and visible flames, apparently in an industrial area.

08:18 : The negotiator also said that if a meeting between Ukrainian Presidents Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian Presidents Vladimir Putin should finally take place, this one will take place “very probably” in Turkey. “We don’t know the date or the place, but we think the place will most likely be Ankara or Istanbul”noted David Arakhamia.

08:17 : Ukraine’s chief negotiator in the peace talks with Russia, David Arakhamia, therefore claimed that Moscow had accepted “orally” the main Ukrainian proposals. “The Russian Federation has given an official response to all positions [ukrainiennes]namely that it accepts them, except with regard to the question of the Crimea”, annexed by Moscow in 2014, assured the person concerned. He added that if there was “no official confirmation in writing”the Russian side having accepted it “orally”.

08:07 : Let’s start with a point on the news:

Ukraine’s chief negotiator in the peace talks with Russia says Moscow has “verbally” accepted his country’s main proposals. A meeting between Presidents Zelensky and Putin in Turkey is even mentioned.

On the ground, Russian forces are withdrawing from key towns near the capital and Cherniguiv in northern Ukraine to redeploy to the east and south. A series of explosions were heard this morning in Odessa, Ukraine’s main port.

This is the final pprint one week from the first round. After Emmanuel Macron, the rebellious leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, is today gathering his troops in Toulouse and the right-wing candidate Valérie Pécresse hers in Paris.

Three departments, Loire, Haute-Loire and Puy-de-Dôme, are still placed on orange alert for snow and ice by Météo France.

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