Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday, “It’s a genocide.” portraits of civic bodies emerged After the withdrawal of the Russian army from the area, the streets of Buka, northwest of the capital of Kyiv, scattered.
When asked during an appearance on CBS News’s “Face the Nation” program if Russia was committing genocide in Ukraine, Zelensky replied: “Really. It’s genocide.”
“The eradication of the whole nation and people. We are citizens of Ukraine. We have over 100 nationalities. It is about the destruction and destruction of all these nationalities,” he continued.
Ukraine does not want to be “subject to the policy of the Russian Federation”, Zelensky said, “that is why we are being destroyed and destroyed.”
“This is happening in 21st century Europe. Therefore, it is the torture of the whole country,” the President urged the audience.
Alleged torture in Buchan has drawn international outrageWestern leaders called for an investigation into war crimes and new sanctions on Russia.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on sunday That the State Department would help document any atrocities committed by the Russian military against Ukrainian citizens. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called the civilian deaths in Buka “brutal” and said “I strongly welcome” the International Criminal Court’s investigation, which has opened war crime investigation in Ukraine.
Russia’s response: Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed the extensive footage was “fake”, adding that “not a single local resident faced any violent action,” during the Russian occupation of Buka. “In settlements in the Kyiv region, Russian military personnel transported and released 452 tonnes of humanitarian aid to civilians,” it said in a statement.
A separate statement claimed the footage was staged. “The stories about Bucha appeared simultaneously in several foreign media outlets in what appears to be a planned media campaign,” the statement said. “Given that the soldiers left the city on March 30, where was the footage of four days? Their absence only confirms the fake. ,
The Russian government has responded by consistently denying allegations of civilian casualties by the Russian military. After the bombing of a maternity hospital by the Russian Air Force on March 9, Russian officials attempted to ridicule widespread media reports, in which a Russian diplomat accused the bombing victim – a woman who survived the bombing, covered in blood. . Soaked and still pregnant – an actor of being and not a real victim.
CNN has not been able to independently confirm the details of the men’s deaths. CNN requested comment from the Russian Defense Ministry on allegations of civilian executions in the Kyiv region and other parts of Ukraine.
CNN’s Nathan Hodge, Chandelis Duster and Jeremy Herb contributed reporting to this post.