The abuses committed by the Russian army are debated by Westerners, while Joe Biden no longer hesitates to speak of genocide, which angers the Kremlin.
As the 50th day of war in Ukraine approaches, Russian strikes continue to hit areas populated by civilians. Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities are giving a glimpse of what Moscow’s losses could be in the conflict.
• Another deadly day for civilians
The Ukrainian authorities on Wednesday denounced new acts by Russia which could correspond to war crimes. In the region of Kherson, in the south of the country, seven people were shot according to the Ukrainian general prosecutor’s office. “Intending to conceal the crime, the occupants blew up the house where the bodies of those shot were found,” the authorities said.
In Kharkiv, in the northeast of Ukraine, bombardments also lead to many deaths. On Wednesday, around noon, the governor of the region assured that seven civilians were killed by strikes, and that 22 others were injured in 24 hours. Later in the day, new strikes left four dead and at least ten injured, again according to the governor.
• The bodies of more than 1,500 Russian soldiers in Dnipro morgues
The deputy mayor of the city of Dnipro, in eastern Ukraine, assured that more than 1,500 Russian soldiers were in morgues on the spot.
“They are lying in mortuary refrigerators,” he said in an interview with Russian-language media Nastoïashchee Vremia, saying he hopes “Russian mothers can come and pick up their sons.” “Whatever you think, they are someone’s children. Their mothers raised them (…), they loved them, they took them to school on September 1”, back to school day school in Russia, he continued.
This very large figure contrasts with the data provided by Russia on its losses in the invasion of Ukraine. Thus, the latest official report published on March 29, reports a total of 1,351 dead and 3,825 injured.
• “Ukraine is a crime scene” according to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court
Karim Khan, prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC), said Ukraine is currently “a crime scene”.
“We are here because we have good reason to believe that crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court are being committed. We must pierce the fog of war to get to the truth,” he said while traveling to Kyiv to meet with the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.
The ICC has opened an investigation into war crimes committed in Ukraine after 41 states have requested it, including France. kyiv, for its part, announced that investigations for 5,000 cases had already been launched.
• The Kremlin finds it “unacceptable” that Biden accuses Putin of genocide
While Joe Biden had called the abuses committed by Russia in Ukraine “genocide”, the Kremlin expressed its disapproval.
“Our disagreement is categorical and we consider such attempts to distort reality to be unacceptable, especially since they come from the President of the United States, a country whose actions in recent history are well known”, commented Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesman.
Note that this Wednesday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau followed in the footsteps of his American counterpart, since he too used the term genocide to denounce Russian actions.
• For Zelensky, Macron’s refusal to denounce a “genocide” in Ukraine is “very hurtful”
Faced with recent statements by Joe Biden, Emmanuel Macron wants to be cautious. “It’s madness what is happening, it’s incredibly brutal (…) but at the same time I look at the facts and I want to try as much as possible to continue to be able to stop this war and to rebuild peace, so I’m not sure that the escalation of words serves the cause,” he said on Wednesday.
An outing that was not appreciated by Volodymyr Zelensky. The Ukrainian president has indeed considered that this refusal to use the word “genocide” on the part of Emmanuel Macron is “very hurtful.
“I will do my best to discuss this issue with Mr. Macron today. If not, then tomorrow, when he finds the time,” he added.