For Wenzel Michalski of Human Rights Watch, the massacre near Kiev is not a horrific anomaly, but a pattern. Something similar has also been documented elsewhere.
After the massacre of civilians in Butscha, Wenzel Michalski, director of the human rights organization in Germany, paints a bleak picture: “Between February 27 and March 14, we also investigated the war in places in the Kharkov region.” Similar atrocities have been documented, albeit with fewer victims: “A mother and her five-year-old daughter were dragged from a school, the woman was raped and stabbed in the neck. In another case, Russian soldiers threw a smoke grenade into a cellar. A 41-year-old woman inside and her 14-year-old child were then shot dead.”
“How does the international human rights organization want to know all this?” the “Krone” asked the director. “We have staff on the ground, talking to refugees, and data forensics experts are evaluating photos and videos.” And it happens that the perpetrators even brag about their misdeeds on platforms like Telegram.
“Shocked, but not 100% surprised”
Human Rights Watch experts are “shocked, but not 100 percent surprised” by the horrific abuses against civilian victims. Similar things have happened in Chechnya and in recent years in the militant regions of eastern Ukraine.
Michalski believes that the Russians are compensating for military incompetence by terrorizing the civilian population. At any time, misdeeds are now also possible in other front areas.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
