Bucha

Claims of war crimes in the Ukraine city mount up as residents tell of a month of fear.

Lots of them were laying on the sidewalks, there were a lot of them squashed by tanks. And later they felt sorry for me, pulled me out of there back to the peaceful world, patted me on my head and told me: ‘Good, you survived.’” I felt like I was in the movie [The] Matrix. Like someone dragged me by my hair and threw me into this Matrix for 16 days and have been watching how I act. There was an exodus – but the Russians said they would permit only women and children to leave. So we ran to the city hall for the green corridor. When he got shot I was outside, I heard the gunshots. On the fifth day, the gas supply to the town was cut off. “There was some grandpa, he was walking with his wife, they were about to cross the street, they were stopped by some Russians. You know how these old men are, just like to talk back and stuff. It was just a campfire with two bricks on the side.” All the time she was there she was hugging the icon.” Those few who decided to leave on that first day were seen as overreacting by the majority of those in Schevchenko’s block. “Everybody was looking [for] some ways out of there on the internet, Telegram or Viber chats.

Ukrainian troops are finding brutalized bodies and widespread destruction in suburbs of the capital as Russian soldiers withdraw and Moscow focuses its ...

Gov. Oleh Synyehubov said a missile strike on the city of Lozovo wounded four people and that Russian tanks bombarded a hospital in the town of Balakliia. … And everyone can contribute to a victory for all,” the president said. The EU and non-governmental organizations were assisting in the effort to preserve evidence of war crimes, according to Michel, who promised “further EU sanctions” against Russia. The Ukrainian leader again urged the West to supply his military with warplanes and more anti-missile systems. The Russian military said the targets were an oil processing plant and fuel depots around Odesa, which is Ukraine’s largest port and home to its navy. But the top Russian negotiator in talks with Ukraine, Vladimir Medinksy, was quoted by Interfax as saying that it’s too early to talk about a meeting between the two leaders. About 100,000 civilians -less than a quarter of the prewar population of 430,000 – are believed to be trapped there with little or no food, water, fuel and medicine. With Mariupol squarely in Russia’s crosshairs, Ukraine insisted it had gained a leg up elsewhere in the country. Ukrainian military spokesman Vladyslav Nazarov said there were no casualties from the attack. Local residents said the dead people were civilians killed without provocation, a claim that could not be independently verified. The AP also saw two bodies wrapped in plastic, bound with tape and thrown into a ditch. Associated Press journalists in Bucha, a small city northwest of Kyiv, saw the bodies of at least nine people in civilian clothes who appeared to have been killed at close range.

Europe pledges further sanctions against Russia amid reports of 'haunting images of atrocities'

The evidence of atrocities emerged against a backdrop of faltering peace talks. If Ukrainians can capitalise on that they can potentially roll back the Russians.” He also urged G7 countries to impose “devastating” sanctions immediately. The country’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, said the images from Bucha were “unbearable”. Russia’s actions in Bucha were consistent with more than a century of military practice, said Jack Watling, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute. “Anyone saying that Bucha is the result of brutalisation or rogue behaviour is wrong. This was the plan.

The mayor of a Ukrainian city on the northern outskirts of Kyiv on Sunday showed journalists dead bodies in an area that, he said, Chechen fighters ...

Russia has pulled back forces that had threatened Kyiv from the north to regroup for battles in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian soldiers are pictured on their tanks as they drive along the street, amid Russia's invasion on Ukraine, in Bucha, in Kyiv region, Ukraine April 2, 2022. Ukrainian soldiers are pictured on their tanks as they drive along the street, amid Russia's invasion on Ukraine, in Bucha, in Kyiv region, Ukraine April 2, 2022.

In Bucha, the bodies of nearly 300 civilians were found in mass graves after Russian troops withdrew, local officials said.

"Kyiv region. I demand new devastating G7 sanctions NOW," Kuleba wrote on Twitter. "Bucha massacre was deliberate.

“Deeply shocked by the photos from Bucha. Killing of civilians is a war crime and cannot be justified,” tweets Michael Brodsky. The statement comes amid reports ...

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other world leaders condemned Russia on Sunday for its recent attack on the Ukrainian town of Bucha and the reported ...

“It is essential that an independent investigation leads to effective accountability,” he said. She said 140 of the bodies had been examined so far. “All the photos and videos published by the Kyiv regime, allegedly testifying to the ‘crimes’ of Russian servicemen in the city of Bucha, Kyiv region, are another provocation,” Russia’s defence ministry said in a statement. Russia, however, denied its forces were responsible for the deaths of civilians in the town of Bucha and said that Ukraine had staged it as a performance for the western media. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also said on Sunday he was “deeply shocked” by images of dead civilians in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, and he called for an independent investigation that “leads to effective accountability.” “We strongly condemn the murder of civilians in Ukraine, remain committed to holding the Russian regime accountable, and will continue to do everything we can to support the people of Ukraine,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a tweet on Sunday.

International leaders condemned Russian military forces on Sunday following reports of an alleged mass grave and graphic images of civilian killings in ...

Human Rights Watch reviewed two photographs the woman shared showing her facial injuries.On March 6, Russian soldiers in the village of Vorzel, about 50 kilometers northwest of Kyiv, threw a smoke grenade into a basement, then shot a woman and a 14-year-old as they emerged from where they had been sheltering, the report continued. On March 4, Russian soldiers in Bucha rounded up five men, forced them to kneel on the side of the road, pulled their shirts over their heads, and shot one of them in the back of the head, a witness told Human Rights Watch.A woman also told the organization that a Russian soldier repeatedly raped her in a school in the Kharkiv region where she and her family had been sheltering on March 13. This is not a battlefield, it’s a crime scene," she wrote on Twitter. "Mass killings of Ukrainian civilians by #Russia are clear war crimes." The 14-year-old died immediately.In the village of Staryi Bykiv, in the Chernihiv region, Russian forces rounded up at least six men on Feb.27 and later executed them, the mother of one of the men told Human Rights Watch. She was nearby when her son and another man were apprehended and later saw the dead bodies of all six. In another photo, the body of a person is seen toppled over on their bike in the middle of the street. An independent investigation is urgently needed," von der Leyen said on Twitter. "Perpetrators of war crimes will be held accountable." Journalists with the Associated Press reported seeing the bodies of at least 21 people in various places around Bucha. One group of nine, all in civilian clothes, were scattered around a site that residents said Russian troops had used as a base during their occupation, the AP said. The US will be looking into and documenting the alleged war crimes to make sure that relevant institutions, including the State Department, have all the information they need, Blinken said." Journalists also reported evidence of atrocities and shared photos of civilians who had been killed.Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, went live on Twitter Sunday and said the images coming out of Bucha were "unspeakable" and devastating for Ukrainians."While we all have seen many painful videos and pictures in recent weeks since the beginning of the Russian large-scale invasion, nothing can be compared to what we've seen from Bucha," Kuleba said.The images Kuleba shared on Twitter show bloody bodies, some with their hands tied behind their backs with white cloth, and faces half buried in dirt. Russia's Ministry of Defense suggested artillery fire from Ukrainian forces shot after Russian troops withdrew could have resulted in civilian casualties. The most important thing is we can't become numb to this, we can't normalize this," Blinken said. "This is the reality of what's going on every single day as long as Russia's brutality against Ukraine continues, that's why it needs to come to an end."

Analysis: Russian president appears to have operated by a strict playbook in northern Ukraine that has served him well for decades.

The names of Bucha, Mariupol and Kharkiv, may well become a rallying cry for Zelenskiy to that goal. The other fly in Putin’s ointment then, is that perhaps the west may this time stay true to its claims of solidarity with Kyiv and escalate its sanctions regime. During the 2016 battle of Aleppo, Russia seized back rebel-held areas of the city for Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad through a month-long aerial bombing campaign, killing men, women and children. When Russian paratroopers dropped into Hostomel airport, on the outskirts of Bucha, they had initially disappeared from view, according to locals. The Russians had reappeared after a few days, residents said, with fatal consequences. Putin’s attack on the Chechen capital, Grozny, in 1999, was as unsuccessful as the attempt to decapitate Ukraine’s leadership in Kyiv within a few days of his 24 February invasion.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Sunday said reports of civilians being executed and buried in mass graves in the Ukrainian city of Bucha are ...

And that is President Putin’s responsibility, to stop the war,” Stoltenberg added. “It is also extremely important that the International Criminal Court has opened an investigation into potential war crimes in Ukraine and that all facts are brought on the table, to the table, and that those responsible are held accountable,” he added. “And it’s horrific, and it’s absolutely unacceptable that civilians are targeted and killed, and it just underlines the importance of, that this war must end.

After Ukraine said Saturday its forces had reclaimed control of whole Kyiv region, images of corpses in civilian clothes left behind by departing Russian ...

The Odesa city council said “critical infrastructure facilities” were hit. The ICRC abandoned earlier attempts due to security concerns. It has not been edited by Globe staff. Western nations have already hit Russia with deep economic sanctions as they seek to punish Moscow for the invasion, which began on Feb. 24. “We can’t become numb to this. We can’t normalize this.

Russian forces have been accused of committing atrocities in the town of Bucha, northwest of the Ukrainian capital. Bodies of civilians were seen lying in ...

Russian forces withdrew from Bucha, a town of 37000 northwest of Kyiv, and other suburbs of the capital in recent days, leaving a trail of destruction.

By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Ukrainian authorities have accused Russian forces of mining bodies and civilian buildings as they retreated from Bucha and other suburbs of Kyiv. In a video address to Ukrainians early Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia was “mining the whole territory.” “They are mining homes, mining equipment, even the bodies of people who were killed,” he said. Asked whether the bodies found around Bucha included Russian soldiers, Fedoruk said that “hundreds of Russian soldiers” were “sleeping eternally” in the region and that Ukrainian authorities would contact the soldiers’ families and close contacts to inform them of their deaths. Friday Finds: Bicycle cell phone carrier we can’t wait to try A gem or two from the week that was Five things to do in Calgary this weekend Looking for something fun to do this weekend? Russian troops fought for control of Bucha starting on Feb. 27 — three days after the invasion began — and “relentless shelling” trapped residents in homes and shelters without electricity or gas, according to Human Rights Watch. The fighting took out the city’s water tower a week later. More On This Topic Kyiv and Chernihiv accuse Russia of attacks despite promise to reduce strikes Evacuate Mariupol, mayor orders all citizens: 'We are in the hands of the invaders' Russian forces withdrew from Bucha, a town of 37,000 northwest of Kyiv, and other suburbs of the capital in recent days, leaving a trail of destruction.

Moscou met en doute la véracité des images montrant des civils morts dans une ville proche de Kiev et estime qu'il s'agit d'une "provocation" - Agence ...

WASHINGTON — The images coming out of the Ukrainian town of Bucha and other areas vacated by Russian President Valdimir Putin's forces are “horrific,” the ...

“The U. S. government is committed to pursuing accountability using every tool available. Ukraine on Sunday accused Russian forces of carrying out a “massacre” in the town of Bucha. Russia’s defense ministry denied the Ukrainian allegations. WASHINGTON — The images coming out of the Ukrainian town of Bucha and other areas vacated by Russian President Valdimir Putin’s forces are “horrific,” the U. S. embassy in Kyiv said on Twitter, vowing action.

April 3, 2022, has seen reports of egregious crimes being perpetrated in Irpin and Bucha, Ukraine. Among others, media outlets reported on images of ...

While steps are being taken to ensure some justice and accountability in the future, more news of egregious crimes come to light on a daily basis. However, the plethora of legal steps taken by the Ukrainian government in response to Putin’s war shows that justice and accountability are important for Ukraine even now as Ukraine fights for survival. Russia failed to follow the order and continues the attack on Ukraine. Putin’s atrocities in Ukraine are subject to several domestic and international inquiries. This is genocide of the Ukrainian population.” The video featured bodies lying on the street. Among others, Sky News has verified two videos showing bodies on the streets of Bucha.

Global outrage over 'senseless murder of innocent civilians' as Russian forces retreat from outskirts of capital city.

Still, she said, re-entering Ukraine had stirred difficult emotions, particularly because her return coincided with the grisly revelations from Bucha and elsewhere. “It’s a quieter place now,” Ms. Goncharuk said. “A lot of people are coming back.” “I just want to be home,” said Kristina Matviychuk, who embraced her husband in the Ukrainian border town of Shehyni on Sunday after arriving from Poland with her two young daughters. In Bucha, Ukrainian soldiers extracted corpses with cables, fearful that they had been booby trapped by the Russians. “We have a grandmother there.” The Canadian government on Sunday joined in condemnation of what Human Rights Watch has called “apparent war crimes” in Bucha, a satellite city of the Ukrainian capital. The Ukrainian military’s success in taking back more than 30 towns and villages in the Kyiv region has been joyless, blackened by the gore and destruction left by Russian troops. “They say, ‘we are tired,’” Mr. Burka said. About 537,000 Ukrainians have come back, the country’s interior ministry said Sunday. In the past week, 144,000 people left Ukraine, and 88,000 entered. He called for an independent investigation that “leads to effective accountability.” The exodus from Ukraine continues – more than four million residents have now left – but victory over Russian forces in key parts of the country has made people want to return.

Canadian leaders are condemning civilian killings in Ukraine after the Russian retreat to the southeast revealed Ukrainian towns scattered with the bodies ...

“Those responsible for these attacks will be brought to justice.” “The images from Bucha are horrific,” Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland tweeted. Bucha’s mayor, Anatoliy Fedork, told Reuters that Russian soldiers had killed more than 300 residents of the town.

Moscow's request for a U.N. Security Council meeting is to discuss Kyiv's attempts to disrupt peace talks and escalate violence with a “provocation” in ...

“Russian Federation requested a meeting of the U. N. Security Council in connection with the provocation of the Ukrainian military and radicals in the city of Bucha,” Zakharova wrote on her Telegram channel. “The idea behind the next crime of the ‘Kyiv’s regime’ is the disruption of peace negotiations and the escalation of violence.” (Reporting by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Daniel Wallis) Moscow’s request for a U. N. Security Council meeting is to discuss Kyiv’s attempts to disrupt peace talks and escalate violence with a “provocation” in Bucha, Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Sunday.

Accusations of war crimes and calls for tougher sanctions feature on Monday's front pages amid horror at civilian killings by Russian troops.

The FT reports on the prospect of a full oil and fuel embargo, with European Council president Charles Michel saying further sanctions were on their way in the wake of the Bucha massacre. The FT and the Telegraph focus on the issue of sanctions. Hundreds of civilians have been found in mass graves, it reports, and some had been tied up.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Sunday called for an independent investigation into the killing of civilians in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, ...

Conflict began on 24 February, when Russia invaded the country. Posting on Twitter on Friday, Mr. Guterres said the UN “is doing everything in its power to support people whose lives have been overturned by the war in Ukraine.” "Ukrainians are enduring a living hell for more than a month, thousands of civilians have died," she wrote.

Ukraine president says worse atrocities may yet be found elsewhere as satellite images show mass grave near church in Bucha.

Speaking on Times Radio on Sunday, he said Bucha was a “deliberate massacre”. Describing Russia as “worse than Isis”, he said Russian forces were guilty of murder, torture, rape and looting. Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia warned on Monday against inferring much from the withdrawal of Russian forces around Kyiv. “They are now regrouping. The UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, said the “despicable” killings added to evidence of Russian war crimes, while the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, expressed shock about the “terrible and horrifying” footage from Bucha. “Streets littered with bodies. We are now collecting the evidence from the witnesses,” Myroshnychenko said of the recent discoveries in town such as Bucha, Irpin and Hostomel. “Multiple rapes of women, children killed. There is talk of women, children and the elderly among the victims,” Scholz said. Ukrainian officials said the bodies of 410 civilians have been found in Kyiv-area towns that were recently retaken from Russian forces.

Global outrage is mounting over the discovery of dozens of bodies, some with their hands bound, in towns near the Ukrainian capital after invading Russian ...

In fact, the Defenders of Ukraine need three things above all: weapons, weapons and more weapons. Pictures from #Bucha disprove the belief that we have to seek a compromise at any cost. Shocked by news of atrocities committed by Russian forces. Criminals must be called criminals, brought to justice and sentenced. In a Twitter post, Lapid said one “cannot remain indifferent in the face of the horrific images from the city of Bucha”. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he strongly condemned the reported attacks on civilians in Ukrainian towns on the outskirts of Kyiv “as violation to international law”. Johnson called the attacks in the towns of Irpin and Bucha “despicable” and said he “will do everything in my power to starve Putin’s war machine”. All cases must be pursued, namely by @CIJ_ICJ. This is the reality of what’s going on every single day as long as Russia’s brutality against Ukraine continues.” The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said he was shocked by the news of “atrocities committed by Russian forces” and said the bloc will assist Ukraine in documenting war crimes. We can’t normalise this. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the images coming out of Bucha were “a punch to the gut” and promised to help Ukraine document “war crimes” being committed by the Russian troops.

Russia has denied committing war crimes in the Kyiv region after images of civilian corpses sparked condemnation.

They hit him a bit above the heel, crushing the bone, and he fell down,” Herega told Al Jazeera. “The shooter shouted: ‘Don’t scream or I will shoot!’ and they turned away. “He went to get some wood when all of a sudden they [Russians] started shooting. It was a controlled shot to the head,” she added. Russia has denied committing war crimes in the Kyiv region after images of civilian corpses sparked international condemnation. Russia has denied committing war crimes in the Kyiv region after images of civilian corpses sparked international condemnation.

Vladimir stands on the edge of a mass grave in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv. He holds his hands to his head, then up to the sky.

Ukraine on Sunday accused the Russian army of having committed a "massacre" in Bucha, a town northwest of Kyiv recently retaken by Ukrainian troops, ...

Some of the bodies were either unburied or partially buried. "We found mass graves. U. S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that the sight of multiple civilian bodies in Bucha was a "punch to the gut." "This is not a war, it is a genocide, a genocide of the Ukrainian population." The mass grave is behind a church in the town's center. The corpses of 57 people were found in a mass grave, the chief of local rescue efforts Serhiy Kaplychniy, said as he showed AFP the trench where the bodies lay. AFP on Saturday saw the bodies of at least 22 people in civilian clothes on a single street in Bucha. Ukraine on Sunday accused the Russian army of having committed a "massacre" in Bucha, a town northwest of Kyiv recently retaken by Ukrainian troops, where the bodies of civilians were found in the streets. According to the mayor of Bucha, Anatoliy Fedoruk, the victims were killed by Russian forces with a "bullet in the back of the neck." One of them was on the pavement near a bicycle, others had bags of provisions near them. Bucha was occupied by the Russian army on the third day of the war, on Feb. 26, and remained inaccessible for more than a month. Communal workers carry a body of a civilian man in town of Bucha, not far from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on April 3, 2022.

The apparent discovery comes as Ukraine's forces recapture towns from Russian troops across the country, which became involved in a full-scale war on Feb. 24 ...

“We are the citizens of Ukraine and we don’t want to be subdued. Investigators could issue an arrest warrant if prosecutors can show “reasonable grounds to believe” war crimes were committed. The Associated Press also saw two bodies wrapped in plastic, bound with tape and thrown into a ditch. “If it keeps happening again and again and the strategy appears to be to target civilians in urban areas, then that can be very powerful evidence of an intent to do so,” Alex Whiting, a visiting professor at Harvard Law School, told Reuters. “We strongly condemn the murder of civilians in Ukraine, remain committed to holding the Russian regime accountable, and will continue to do everything we can to support the people of Ukraine,” he tweeted. For most charges, that requires proving intent, and one way prosecutors could do it is to show there were no military targets in the area of an attack, and that it was not an accident. On Monday, the Kremlin categorically denied any accusations related to the murder of civilians in Bucha, and said Ukrainian allegations on the matter should be treated with doubt. Even before Bucha, Ukraine and its Western allies accused Russian forces of targeting civilians indiscriminately, referencing the bombing in the southern port of Mariupol of a maternity hospital and a theatre marked as housing children. It had a population of roughly 35,000 before the war began, and is a neighbour to the towns of Irpin and Hostomel. Shapravskyi said Moscow’s troops withdrew late last week from Bucha. Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said scores of killed civilians found on the streets of Bucha, and the Kyiv suburbs of Irpin and Hostomel, looked like a “scene from a horror movie.” Over the weekend, news outlets began to report the deaths of civilians in the streets of Bucha as Ukrainian forces reentered the town. Reporters with Reuters and The Associated Press saw the bodies of people in civilian clothes who appeared to have been killed at close range.

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Joe Biden on Monday called for war crimes trial against Russia President Vladimir ...

The bodies of 410 civilians have been removed from Kyiv-area towns that were recently retaken from Russian forces, Ukraine’s prosecutor-general, Iryna Venediktova, said. Biden’s comments to reporters came after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Bucha, one of the towns surrounding Kyiv where Ukrainian officials say the bodies of civilians have been found. Associated Press journalists saw the bodies of at least 21 people in various spots around Bucha, northwest of the capital.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and former heavyweight champion boxer Wladimir Klitschko have described civilian deaths in Bucha as "genocide of the Ukrainian ...

and say 'yes we did do that, but you do the same', pointing to some kind of moral equivalence in the West. but it may be easier at the bottom level". working in their own little friendship groups". Even the bodies of the dead are booby-trapped. The ICC lists examples such as "intentionally directing attacks... "Russian troops famously have a low level of non-commissioned officers - who are there to keep the troops in order and are in charge of their behaviour. "Concentrated evil has visited our land. Their journalists say they have seen 21 bodies, with at least one group of nine all in civilian clothes. there are schools, nurseries and parks." "The deliberate targeting of civilians is a war crime, in and of itself, every day of the week," he said. The town centre is lined with shops… Bodies on the streets.

Survivor of alleged Russian atrocities recounts his ordeal as analysts say development marks wake-up call for West.

Others were found in mass graves, barely covered with soil and garbage. To many in the West, the Bucha killings became a wake-up call, the first chance to see the scope of mass killings of civilians that amount to war crimes – or even genocide. Several bodies were found inside apartments and houses with gaping holes made by shells and explosions. The ministry claimed on Sunday that all Bucha residents “had the opportunity to freely leave”, and claimed that the southern suburbs “were fired at around the clock by Ukrainian troops”. I saw it all, they are still lying there, not everyone was collected,” Matsenko said. His story confirms the scope of the mass killings of civilians that became evident – and visible – only after Ukrainian forces and journalists entered Bucha on March 31.

Russian invaders are now treating the entirety of the Ukrainian population as combatants, as dirt to be cleansed.

Or they should invoke the toll of Bucha: bodies, wrapped in black bags, piled like firewood into the back of a van collecting the corpses from the streets. But the murders at Bucha are merely one entry in a litany of atrocities. The Russian invaders are now treating the entirety of the population as combatants, as dirt to be cleansed. Low-ranking soldiers were required to make the decision to kill, again and again, despite the screams, becoming inured to the routine of murder. Along with several dozen other Ukrainians, she found herself hustled into a small square, next to the office of a storage-rental firm. And while the invaders struggled to realize their overarching plan, they gained a toehold in Bucha.

Also: Russia denies killing civilians, calling the photos and videos 'staged' to tarnish Moscow's reputation; Mariupol evacuation effort stalls yet again ...

In that small centre and others nearby, now abandoned by Russian forces after weeks of intense fighting, civilians have been found dead, with their hands tied and gunshots to the backs of their heads. The Canadian government on Sunday joined in condemnation of what Human Rights Watch has called “apparent war crimes” in Bucha, a satellite city of the Ukrainian capital. Ukrainian officials said bodies of 410 civilians were found in towns around the capital, Kyiv, that were recaptured from Russian forces in recent days. Speaking on national television, Venediktova said the situation in the town of Borodyanka was the worst in the Kyiv region in terms of the number of victims. But the latest reports ratcheted up the condemnation even further, with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and some Western leaders going so far as to accuse Russia of genocide. But sanctions have thus far failed to halt the offensive, and rising energy prices along with the tight controls on Russian currency market have blunted their impact, with the ruble rebounding strongly after initially crashing. The people could not discuss the matter publicly and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity. There have been benefits offered to Ukrainians looking to escape the Russian invasion, but not to Afghans fleeing the Taliban’s takeover, including authorization for emergency travel to enter Canada on a temporary basis with open work permits for up to three years. Ukrainian authorities said on Sunday they were investigating possible crimes by Russian forces after finding hundreds of bodies strewn around towns including Bucha outside the capital Kyiv after the Russian withdrawal from the area. That joke emerged in 1956, when Nikita Khrushchev ordered tanks into Budapest to crush the anti-Soviet Hungarian Revolution, and reappeared in 1968, when Leonid Brezhnev sent tanks to Czechoslovakia to crush the Prague Spring. But in 1989, when Mikhail Gorbachev chose not to send tanks or troops to Germany to preserve the Berlin Wall, the quip seemed set to become a thing of the past. The city’s deputy mayor said that 50 dead residents had been victims of extra-judicial killings carried out by Russian troops. Biden’s comments to reporters came after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Bucha, one of the towns surrounding Kyiv where Ukrainian officials say the bodies of civilians have been found.