Status: 04/13/2022 5:14 p.m
Investigators working for the OSCE claim to have found “credible evidence” of crimes against humanity in Ukraine. The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Khan, even called the whole of Ukraine a “crime scene”.
According to a report by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), there are numerous indications of serious human rights violations by Russian troops since their invasion of Ukraine.
Even if a “detailed assessment” was not possible, independent OSCE experts found a number of “clear cases” during their investigation in March, according to the 100-page report, which was completed before the bodies were found in Bucha.
The report, which draws on information from various sources on the ground – including non-governmental organizations, investigative agencies and public officials – refers to attacks on “hospitals, homes, cultural assets, schools, water and electricity supplies” with “catastrophic consequences for the civilian population.
The report also speaks of “credible evidence” of torture and ill-treatment and of targeted killings and kidnappings of civilians.
The mission also notes “violations on the Ukrainian side”, particularly in the “treatment of prisoners of war”. However, the violations committed by Russia are “far more serious in nature and scope”.
US President Biden accuses Russian President Putin of genocide
Sabine Krebs, ARD Warsaw, daily news at 4:00 p.m., April 13, 2022
International Criminal Court at Boucha
As part of the investigation into possible war crimes in Ukraine, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Kharim Khan, also visited Bucha. Speaking to reporters in the Kiev suburb, Khan described all of Ukraine as a “crime scene”: “We are here because we have reason to believe that crimes are being committed that fall within the court’s jurisdiction,” he said.
Kharim Khan visits a mass grave in Bucha (Ukraine).
Image: EPA
It is important “to penetrate the fog of war to find the truth,” said the Briton. “Independent and unbiased investigations” are required. That is why a forensic team from the ICC is in Bucha “so that we can really make sure that we are separating truth from fiction”.
At the beginning of April, the bodies of hundreds of civilians were discovered in Bucha after the withdrawal of Russian troops. The Ukrainian authorities speak of systematic murders, rapes and torture by the Russian military, but Moscow rejects the allegations.
Kremlin disagrees with Biden
The Kremlin also firmly rejected US allegations of genocide in Ukraine. “We categorically disagree and consider any attempt to distort the situation in this way to be unacceptable,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. The statement was unacceptable, especially as it came from the president of a country “whose machinations are well known in recent history,” he added.
US President Joe Biden had previously spoken of “genocide” in relation to the atrocities. “I called it genocide because it’s becoming clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to erase the idea of being Ukrainian at all,” he said. Ultimately, however, it is up to the courts to judge whether the Russian actions in Ukraine should be classified as genocide.
EU increases military aid to Ukraine
The Council of the European Union has decided to increase joint military aid by 500 million euros to 1.5 billion euros. The EU foreign ministers had previously agreed on this step at a meeting in Luxembourg.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the next few weeks would be crucial. As Russia prepares an offensive in the east of the country, the EU must increase its military support so that Ukraine can “protect its territory and the population and prevent further suffering”.
Russia announced that it would consider US or NATO vehicles transporting weapons on Ukrainian territory as legitimate targets. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the Russian news agency TASS.
Meanwhile, hostilities in Ukraine continue with undiminished severity. The Ukrainian troops recently reported the shooting down of a Russian Su-25 ground attack aircraft. The Ukrainian general staff announced via Facebook that civilian objects in the Kharkiv and Zaporizhia regions had been attacked with rockets. The artillery shelling of the eastern Ukrainian metropolis of Kharkiv will also continue.
Shaded in white: advance of the Russian army. Shaded in green: Russian-backed separatist areas. Crimea: annexed by Russia.
Image: ISW/04/12/2022
According to the General Staff, Ukrainian positions in the besieged port city of Mariupol in south-eastern Ukraine are also being bombed. This information cannot be independently verified.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Russia of using phosphorus bombs. This is terror against the civilian population, he said in a video address to the Estonian parliament. He warned that Russia could go to war in other countries in Europe.
conflicting parties as a source
Information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by official bodies of the Russian and Ukrainian conflict parties cannot be directly checked by an independent body in the current situation.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry has released a report that more than 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers have laid down their arms and taken prisoner.
There are said to be 1,026 members of the 36th Marines Brigade, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said. This information is also not independently verifiable.