Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that Russian leaders should be held responsible for “murder” and “torture” in Boutcha, a town northwest of Kyiv recently taken over by Ukrainians where many civilians were killed.
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“I want all the leaders of the Russian Federation to see how their orders are carried out. This kind of orders (…). And they have a common responsibility. For these murders, for these tortures, for the arms torn off by explosives (…) For the bullets fired in the back of the neck”, declared Mr. Zelensky, passing from Ukrainian to Russian, in a video message.
He said a “special mechanism” would be created to “investigate and prosecute all crimes of the occupiers in our country”, adding that it would operate on the basis of the “joint work of national and international experts”.
“This mechanism will help Ukraine and the world to bring to justice those who have started or participated in any way in this terrible war against the Ukrainian people and crimes against our people”, explained the head of state .
“It is time to do everything so that the war crimes of the Russian army are the last manifestation of this evil on earth”, he hammered.
“Hundreds of people have been killed. Civilians tortured and slaughtered. (…) Even the bodies of the dead were mined!”, released Mr. Zelensky
“I want every mother of every Russian soldier to see the bodies of those killed in Boutcha, Irpin, Gostomel”, towns in the Kyiv region recaptured by Ukrainian troops after the withdrawal of Russian forces.
“What did they do? Why were they killed (…) Why were ordinary civilians tortured to death in a peaceful town? Why did they strangle women after ripping their earrings off? How could women be raped and killed in front of children? Manhandle their bodies even after death? Why did the tanks crush people’s bodies? What has Boucha done to your Russia? How did all this become possible?”, the president got carried away.
He then addressed himself directly to “Russian mothers” who he said raised “looters”, “torturers” “deprived of all that is human” who “kill deliberately and with pleasure”.
Mr Zelensky also criticized NATO’s “hidden refusal” in 2008 to welcome Ukraine into its ranks because of the “absurd fear of certain political leaders with regard” to Moscow who “thought that by rejecting Ukraine they could appease Russia”.
“In the 14 years since this miscalculation, Ukraine has experienced a revolution and eight years of war in the Donbass (east, where pro-Russian separatists have created two “republics”, editor’s note) and now (.. .) the worst war in Europe since the Second World War”.
“I invite Mrs. (Angela) Merkel (the former German Chancellor) and Mr. (Nicolas) Sarkozy (the former French President) to visit Boutcha and see what the policy of concessions towards Russia has led to”, continued Mr. Zelensky.
But “we don’t blame the West. We do not blame anyone other than the Russian military (…) and those who gave them orders, ”he immediately added.