The Boutcha (Ukraine) massacre continues to be the center of concern on the international scene. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the UN to act “immediately” against Russia with regard to “war crimes” that she committed, according to him, in Ukraine. For its part, Moscow accuses the Ukrainian authorities of preparing “staging” of civilians killed in several cities to condemn the Kremlin. Here’s what to remember from Tuesday, April 5.
Volodymyr Zelensky calls for Russia’s exclusion from the UN Security Council
“Where is the Security Council? Where is the peace in the name of which the UN was created? This organization is supposed to carry out its function: to stop the aggressors, restore peace by force.” Invited to speak to the UN Security Council, Volodymyr Zelensky denounced the institution’s inaction. Ukraine’s president called on the UN to act “immediately” against Russia with regard to its “war crimes” committed according to him in Ukraine, demanding in particular his exclusion from the Security Council.
Volodymyr Zelensky released a video showing very raw images of people killed in Ukraine. Those are “terrible pictures”British Ambassador Barbara Woodward said, thinking “outraged”. Several bodies or body parts appeared on these images, on a sound background accentuating the dramatization of the video.
Antony Blinken denounces a “deliberate campaign to kill, torture, rape”
The head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, denounced a “deliberate campaign to kill, torture, rape” in Boutcha. “What we saw in Boutcha is not the isolated act of a rogue unit. It is a deliberate campaign to kill, torture, rape, commit atrocities”he said before flying to Brussels.
“This strengthens our resolve and the resolve of countries around the world to ensure that somehow, one day or another, those who committed these acts are held accountable.”, he said. The Secretary of State assured that the United States was working, like others, to “to gather evidence to support the efforts of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine and those of the Commission of Inquiry of the United Nations Human Rights Council”.
The Pnat opens an investigation for “war crimes”
Ihe French National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office (Pnat) announced in a press release that it had opened three investigations against X, heads of “war crimes” likely to have been committed against French nationals in recent weeks in Ukraine. These investigations concern acts likely to have been committed in Mariupol between February 25 and March 16, in Hostomel between March 1 and 12, and in Chernihiv since February 24.
The investigations were entrusted to the Central Office for the Fight against Crimes against Humanity, Genocide and War Crimes (OCLCH).
Russia is preparing to take “control of the whole” of Donbass, according to NATO Secretary General
A withdrawal in the West for an offensive in the East? Russia is getting stronger “take control of the whole Donbass”in eastern Ukraine, and achieve “a land bridge with Crimea”annexed by Moscow in 2014, said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. “We are in a crucial phase of the war”he warned during a press conference on the eve of a meeting of Alliance foreign ministers.
“Russian troops have left the kyiv region and northern Ukraine. Vladimir Putin is moving a large number of troops to the east in Russia. They will rearm, receive reinforcements in numbers, because they have suffered a lot of losses, and resupply to launch a new highly concentrated offensive in the Donbass region”he explained.
Nearly 200 Russian diplomats expelled from Europe in 48 hours
After France and Germany on Monday, Italy, Spain and Slovenia in turn expelled Russian diplomats en masse, marking a further deterioration in relations with Moscow after the discovery of massacres blamed on Russian forces near kyiv . At the end of the afternoon, Slovenia expelled 33 and Estonia 14, making a total of nearly 200 Russian diplomats expelled from Europe in 48 hours.
The Kremlin denounced the “lack of foresight” European: “We regret it. The reduction of the possibilities of communicating at the diplomatic level in these difficult conditions” denotes a “lack of foresight which will further complicate” relations between Russia and the EU, castigated the spokesman of the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov.