Leaders demand that those responsible in Moscow be held accountable for the “atrocities” committed
The facts revealed in the Ukrainian city of Izium, in the Kharkiv region, after the discovery of more than 440 graves and mass graves in a nearby forest a few days after they were liberated by Ukrainian forces, has sparked reactions of disgust within the international community. community and especially in countries with democratic regimes and champions of respect for human rights.
One of the first to respond to the evidence of massacres and torture was US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “We have now seen the reports of this mass grave. Every time we see the Russian tide pull back from the parts of Ukraine it has taken, we see what it leaves behind. And this latest discovery of apparently 440 mass graves in Izium is a reminder of that,” Blinken told a news conference.
In his words, such acts “should be regarded as war crimes” and called for the greatest possible amount of evidence of “the atrocities they committed”. The Secretary of State emphasized that such actions “would amount to war crimes, which I think is the right framework to look at.” “I think that is the way to go, and it is happening. I have spoken with people on the ground in Ukraine who are working to document evidence and set up cases of war crimes and atrocities that have been committed,” he added. Blinken visited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last week and visited the town of Irpin, on the outskirts of Kiev, also the scene of heavy fighting in March and where “thousands of corpses” of civilians were also found, the mayor said at the time. the armed confrontations and bombings of the Russian army.
His European counterpart, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, has assured that the old continent is “deeply stunned” by the news coming out of Izium and, as he has stated, “strongly condemns these atrocities” . “The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine has left a trail of blood and destruction. Russia, its political leaders and everyone involved in the ongoing violations of international and humanitarian law in Ukraine must be held accountable,” Borrell said in a statement.
For its part, the Czech Republic, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, yesterday requested the formation of an international court to rule on “war crimes” committed by Russian troops in Ukraine. “In the 21st century, such attacks on the civilian population are unthinkable and hateful,” Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said on Twitter. The diplomat called for “punishment of all war criminals” and called for “the rapid establishment of a special international court to punish the crime of aggression”.
“I strongly condemn the atrocities committed in Izium, in Ukraine, under Russian occupation,” French President Emmanuel Macron also said yesterday. “The perpetrators will be held accountable for their actions. There is no peace without justice,” he stressed. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has spoken out on the same social network, denouncing that “reports of mass graves in Izium, in Ukraine, are appalling and heartbreaking. Canada condemns these horrific atrocities. We will continue to work with our partners to hold those who committed them accountable and we will continue to help the people of Ukraine.”
The Spanish Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, also deplored what happened in Izium by means of a statement. “Spain strongly condemns the massacre discovered in the Izium mass grave, to Ukrainian territory from which Russian troops have recently withdrawn.” In his words, the facts must be investigated, because “the deaths of these people must not go unpunished.”
Dmitro Lubinets, human rights commissioner of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada (Parliament), said on Friday that “more than 1,000 people have been tortured and killed in the Russian-occupied areas of the Kharkiv region,” according to the Russian agency Interfax. He claimed that “in the coming days the exact number of bodies exhumed in the mass graves of Izium will be announced.”
Lubínets released a video yesterday in which he appears against the background of a destroyed residential building in Izium and assured that 54 people were killed in a bomb attack there, including an entire family: «the father was born in 1988, his wife in 1991, her daughter in 2016 and her parents”, previously found in the tombs thanks to the inscription placed on the wooden cross by acquaintances. “There are many, many cases like this,” he added.
On the other hand, the governor of Kharkov, Oleg Sinegúbov, claimed that 99% of the bodies exhumed in Izium “showed signs of a violent death”. “Several bodies have been tied behind their backs and one person was buried with a rope around his neck. It is clear that these people were tortured and executed. Among the buried are children,” Sinegúbov emphasized on Telegram. Ukrainian media yesterday showed a photo of one of the bodies with their wrists tied behind their waists.
Izium was captured by the Russian army in early April and until its liberation a week ago, it was used as one of the main supply bases for Russian troops on the Donbass front. Yesterday, as evidenced by images broadcast by Ukrainian media, the excavation work at the site of the graves has accelerated with the presence of numerous forensic personnel. It involves documenting the crimes committed and trying to identify the bodies. Ukrainian police say 445 graves have been found, but some contain several bodies. According to the agents, quoted by several Telegram channels, “it is still not clear how these people died. Many appear to be civilians, including women and children.” There are also reports of a mass grave with twenty Ukrainian army corps.
Source: La Verdad
I am an experienced and passionate journalist with a strong track record in news website reporting. I specialize in technology coverage, breaking stories on the latest developments and trends from around the world. Working for Today Times Live has given me the opportunity to write thought-provoking pieces that have caught the attention of many readers.
