Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Irina Venediktova said Sunday that 1,222 bodies have been found in the region around the capital kyiv, which was partially occupied by Russian forces for several weeks.
“So far we have 1,222 deaths in the kyiv region alone,” Venediktova said, in an interview in English with the British network Sky News, in which she noted that there have been 5,600 investigations open for alleged war crimes since the beginning of the Russian invasion. on February 24.
The official did not specify on Sunday if the bodies found were exclusively civilians.
A week ago, Venediktova indicated that 410 civilians had been found dead in the liberated regions in the vicinity of kyiv. The prosecutor then pointed out that there were undoubtedly more bodies that had not yet been found and examined.
The town of Bucha, northwest of kyiv, became a symbol of the horrors of war in Ukraine with around 300 people buried in mass graves, according to a balance announced by the Ukrainian authorities on April 2.
big battles are coming
Meanwhile, Ukraine is preparing to fight “great battles” against Moscow’s forces in the east of the country, the new focus of a war that has lasted more than six weeks and for which Pope Francis called for an Easter truce on Sunday. that allows “to reach peace”.
In eastern Ukraine, evacuations resumed from Kramatorsk, where a bombing on Friday against a railway station packed with people trying to flee for fear of an imminent offensive by the Russians left 52 dead.
Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky spoke Sunday with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, with whom he said he agreed “that all perpetrators of war crimes must be identified and punished,” according to a tweet.
easter peace
Lay down your arms! An Easter truce begins, but not to reload weapons and fight again, no!, a truce to reach peace
Faced with this bleak panorama of death and destruction, Pope Francis called for an Easter truce this Sunday to move towards peace “through true negotiation.”
“Lay down your weapons! Let an Easter truce begin, but not to reload your weapons and fight again, no! A truce to reach peace,” declared the pontiff in his Angelus of Palms in Saint Peter’s Square of the Vatican.
The Argentine pope denounced a war that “puts before our eyes ferocious massacres and atrocious cruelties committed against defenseless civilians.” “What victory will it be that plants a flag on a heap of rubble?” he asked.
But Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, one of the pillars of Vladimir Putin’s regime, called on the population to unite to fight Russia’s “external and internal enemies”.
“In this difficult period for our homeland, may the Lord help each of us to support each other, including around the government,” Kirill said at a mass in Moscow.
Fighting and diplomacy
Zelensky said on Saturday that his country was preparing for “important battles, some say they will be decisive, in the east,” speaking in kyiv alongside Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer.
Ukraine is ready for great battles, Ukraine must win them, including in Donbas. When that happens, Ukraine will have a strong negotiating position that will allow it to dictate certain conditions
“We are ready to fight and in parallel seek to end this war through diplomacy,” he added, referring to peace negotiations with Moscow.
“Ukraine is ready for great battles, Ukraine must win them, including in Donbas. When that happens, Ukraine will have a strong negotiating position that will allow it to dictate certain conditions,” said Ukrainian negotiator Mikhailo Podoliak, quoted by the agency. interface.
On Saturday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also visited kyiv, where he praised the response to the Russian invasion and offered to send weapons to Ukraine, including Starstreak anti-aircraft missiles and 800 anti-tank missiles.
With thousands dead in fighting and more than 11 million who have left their homes (7.1 million internally displaced persons) or the country (4.4 million, according to the UN), Zelensky called on the West to follow the British example: “We need more sanctions against Russia. We need more weapons.”
The British leader assured that the discovery of numerous bodies of dead civilians in Ukrainian towns that were occupied by Russian troops “permanently stained” Putin’s reputation.
At least two bodies were discovered in the manhole of a gas station on the outskirts of kyiv on Sunday, an AFP journalist found. The corpses were dressed in a mixture of civilian and military clothing.
A woman approached, looked inside before collapsing after recognizing the body by its shoes. “My son, my son!” she yelled.
destroyed airport
Six weeks into the invasion, Russia is now focusing on eastern and southeastern Ukraine after stiff resistance thwarted its plans to take kyiv.
Russian troops seek to create a land link between the Crimean peninsula – annexed by Russia in 2014 – and the pro-Russian separatist territories of Donetsk and Luhansk in Donbas.
This Sunday, the airport of Dnipro, an industrial city of one million inhabitants, which marks the limit of the eastern regions of the country, was bombed again.
“The airport itself and nearby infrastructure were destroyed. And the missiles are still flying,” regional governor Valentin Reznichenko wrote on Telegram.
“War with Civilians”
What we are seeing now is a new reality, there is a new normal for European security
The mayor of the eastern city of Lysychansk, Oleksandr Zaika, urged residents to evacuate the city.
“It has become very difficult in the city, enemy shells are already streaking through the sky,” Zaika said by video. Although the city has humanitarian aid, “that doesn’t mean you can save your life if an enemy shell arrives,” he added.
At least two people were killed in a shelling in the city of Kharkiv, Governor Oleg Sinegubov reported on Facebook on Sunday, reporting that in 24 hours they suffered 66 shellings.
“The Russian army is still in a war against civilians in the absence of victories on the front lines,” he said.
A global fundraising campaign to help Ukrainian refugees or displaced by the invasion has raised 10.1 billion euros ($11 billion), European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in Warsaw on Saturday.
In another sign of Western backing for Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the military alliance is preparing a plan to have a permanent force on its borders to prevent any Russian aggression.
“What we are seeing now is a new reality, there is a new normal for European security,” he said in an interview with the British newspaper Daily Telegraph.
AFP
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