- Warning: Distressing contents including images of victims of war.
A man lays under a blue bicycle, his iPhone crumpled and his beret askew.
Another man is face-down on the bitumen. His hands are bound behind his back and his fingertips are turning black.
Another victim has been propelled across the street in a blast, the impact ripping his pants from his body.
Other corpses are charred, their faces unrecognisable.
These are just some of the examples of alleged war crimes mounting in Ukraine.
As The New Daily reported on Sunday, reports out of the war zone suggest civilians have been executed by retreating Russian forces.
The latest evidence points to the killings being a deliberate “massacre”.
In other regions, there have also been stories of Russian soldiers repeatedly raping a woman and executing men.
Here’s what we know about the events which took place in Bucha, other alleged war crimes – and the latest response from global powers.
Human Rights Watch report points to war crimes
A leading human rights group has released a report detailing “apparent war crimes” by Russian forces – including evidence of rape and unlawful killings of civilians.
The Human Rights Watch report is based on a series of interviews with eye witnesses, victims and local residents of Russia-occupied territories.
It documents atrocities against Ukrainian civilians in the occupied areas of the Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Kyiv regions since February.
“These include a case of repeated rape; two cases of summary execution, one of six men, the other of one man; and other cases of unlawful violence and threats against civilians,” the report reads.
“Soldiers were also implicated in looting civilian property, including food, clothing, and firewood. Those who carried out these abuses are responsible for war crimes.”
Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said the cases amounted to “unspeakable, deliberate cruelty and violence against Ukrainian civilians”.
“Rape, murder, and other violent acts against people in the Russian forces’ custody should be investigated as war crimes,” Mr Williamson said.
A woman told the human rights group that a Russian soldier had repeatedly raped her in a school in the Kharkiv region where she and her family had been sheltering on March 13.
She said that he beat her and cut her face, neck, and hair with a knife.
So far, Human Rights Watch has spoken to 10 people who have detailed abuse or threats from Russian soldiers.
Calls for investigation into war crimes
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called for international war crimes investigators to visit the town of Bucha to collect evidence and said Kyiv believed the killing of civilians was deliberate.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken described images of large numbers of dead Ukrainians in Bucha following Russia’s withdrawal as a “punch in the gut” in an interview with CNN.
French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian condemned what he called the “massive abuses” committed by Russian forces and said Paris would work with Ukraine and the International Criminal Court (ICC) to put those responsible on trial.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock tweeted: “The images from Bucha are unbearable, Putin’s uninhibited violence is extinguishing innocent families and knows no boundaries.
“Those responsible for these war crimes must be made accountable. We will tighten the sanctions against Russia and will assist Ukraine even more in defending itself.”
Mr Kuleba called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to visit Bucha and other towns around Kyiv as soon as possible to work with Ukrainian law enforcement agencies to “thoroughly collect all evidence of Russian war crimes” the ministry quoted him as saying.
“We are still gathering and looking for bodies, but the number has already gone into the hundreds,” he added. “Dead bodies lie on the streets. They killed civilians while staying there and when they were leaving these villages and towns.”
On his Telegram channel, he wrote: “Bucha massacre was deliberate.”
Andriy Sybiha, deputy head of the Ukrainian president’s office, called alongside Kuleba for a wave of new measures by the Group of Seven major Western economic powers, extending sanctions to all its banks, closing ports to its ships and imposing an embargo on all trade.
“The current sanctions are not having enough of an effect as the war is continuing,” he said.
Russia claims its forces weren’t even in the area
Russia’s defence ministry denied that Russian forces had killed civilians in Bucha, and said all photographs and footage showing dead bodies were “yet another provocation”.
In a statement, it said all Russian military units had left the town on March 30.
Moscow has previously denied allegations that it has targeted civilians, and has rejected accusations of war crimes.
-with AAP
The post More evidence of war crimes: Anger and calls for reprisals over civilian ‘massacre’ appeared first on The New Daily.
**Know benefits of facebook marketing --http://bit.ly/2RgChw3