“Genocide”. The qualifier was used Sunday by the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, after hundreds of civilian bodies were found in the Kyiv region, until recently under Russian occupation.
Updated at 12:40 a.m.
“Yes, it is genocide. The elimination of the whole nation and people. […] And this is happening in the Europe of the XXIand century”, denounced President Zelensky to the American channel CBS.
Telle une vague, l’armée russe s’est retirée dans les derniers jours du nord de l’Ukraine, mettant à nu des scènes de grande violence. Exécutions sommaires, exactions, viols : ce sombre tableau ajoute une nouvelle couche aux atrocités vécues par les civils en Ukraine depuis 39 jours.
C’est notamment le cas à Boutcha, ville située à une trentaine de kilomètres de Kyiv, où des journalistes de l’Agence France-Presse ont vu les corps de dizaines de personnes abandonnés dans les rues depuis des jours, certains avec les mains attachées dans le dos. Les images ont provoqué l’indignation partout sur la planète. Dimanche, la procureure générale de l’Ukraine a fait état de 410 civils retrouvés sans vie dans la région de Kyiv.
PHOTO RONALDO SCHEMIDT, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Les corps de civils ukrainiens vraisemblablement tués par des troupes russes, dont l’un ayant les mains attachées, gisent dans une rue de Boutcha, non loin de Kyiv.
Une scène d’horreur qualifiée de « massacre délibéré » par le ministre ukrainien des Affaires étrangères, Dmytro Kouleba, qui a fait appel à la communauté internationale.
Les Russes veulent éliminer autant d’Ukrainiens qu’ils le peuvent. Nous devons les arrêter et les mettre dehors. J’exige de nouvelles sanctions dévastatrices du G7 MAINTENANT.
Dmytro Kouleba, ministre ukrainien des Affaires étrangères, sur Twitter
Dans un nouveau rapport, l’organisation internationale Human Rights Watch (HRW) a aussi documenté des cas de viols, d’exécutions et de pillages dans les régions de Tchernihiv, de Kharkiv et de Kyiv. Ces actions pourraient ressembler à des « crimes de guerre », y est-il indiqué.
« Ce qu’on découvre dans le village de Boutcha et dans les zones avoisinantes, c’est ce qui se fait déjà partout, dans les zones occupées [par la Russie] asserts Dominique Arel, director of the Chair of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Ottawa. “And what will continue to happen. »
The West is outraged
The macabre discoveries at Boutcha were quickly denounced on the international scene. “These images are a punch in the stomach,” reacted the head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, on the CNN channel.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called the footage “a brutality unseen in Europe for decades”. In France, President Emmanuel Macron maintained that “the Russian authorities will have to answer for these crimes”.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the “shocking and horrifying” killings in Boutcha on Twitter.
We remain mobilized to hold the Russian regime to account.
Justin Trudeau, Canadian Prime Minister, on Twitter
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has also called Russia’s “despicable attacks” a “war crime”.
UN Secretary General António Guterres said he was “deeply shocked”, before calling for “an independent investigation”.
New sanctions could soon fall on Russia: “We will decide on new measures between the Allies in the coming days”, assured the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, on Sunday.
Systematically targeted
The definition of genocide requires the systematic elimination of people for belonging to a certain group, explains Maria Popova, a political science professor at McGill University who specializes in post-Soviet affairs. “We’re starting to see elements that resemble this definition, she says, because there is evidence that people have been killed with their hands tied, for example. »
According to Dominique Arel, men aged 16 to 60 who were not part of the Ukrainian forces were targeted, in a “logic of systematic elimination of anyone who could resist the occupation”.
But the fact that civilians participate in the defense of Ukraine could also have given ammunition to Russia, notes François Audet, director of the Institute of International Studies of Montreal, at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM ). “In conflicts like this, where Ukraine has mobilized civilians, it should come as no surprise that Russia has used this pretext,” he laments.
PHOTO RODRIGO ABD, ASSOCIATED PRESS
A mass grave discovered in Boutcha, where the bodies of Ukrainian civilians lie after the passage of Russian troops.
However, other people, such as Ukrainian language teachers, have also been targeted because they contribute to “building the Ukrainian nation”, argues Ms.me Popova.
If these suppositions are confirmed, we are no longer talking only of war crimes, but of genocide.
Maria Popova, professor of political science at McGill University
Moreover, it would not be the first time that Russia has committed war crimes, remind the experts contacted by The Press. We have to think of Chechnya in the 1990s, or the Soviet forces during the Second World War. “It is not a question of a soldier who went astray, affirms Mme Popova. It is possible that this is how Russia makes war. »
PHOTO SERGEI SUPINSKY, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
People react to the discovery of a mass grave in Boutcha.
“It finally shows us an undisciplined, criminal army, which seems to act with a feeling of impunity”, adds Dominique Arel.
Impact on negotiations?
The impact of the gruesome discoveries could reverberate into the negotiating room between Russia and Ukraine, says Ms.me Popova. “How could the Ukrainian government come to a compromise [concernant les territoires de l’est du pays, sur lesquels la Russie a décidé de se concentrer], while knowing what will happen to the people who live in the territories? asks the teacher.
“If the Russian army enters Mariupol, we already know what will happen,” says Dominique Arel. Because we see what happened, on a smaller scale, in the cities being liberated. It is the horror. »
In one sentence, summarizes Maria Popova: “There is no direct correlation between surrendering to the Russians and saving lives. »
With Agence France-Presse