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“important today”
The Butscha massacre – a war crime and its consequences
Ukraine, Bucha: A woman walks on a street strewn with wrecked military vehicles
© Rodrigo Abd/AP/DPA
The pictures from the Ukrainian Bucha caused great horror internationally. In the “Today Important” podcast, reporter Gordian Fritz reports on his trip to the area and journalist Jan-Christoph Wiechmann classifies what war crimes are.
Hundreds of bodies were discovered there after Russian troops withdrew from the Kiev suburb of Bucha. According to Ukrainian sources, there were more than 300. Eyewitnesses reported that Russian soldiers had deliberately killed civilians. Reporter Gordian Fritz was in Bucha yesterday and was taken to a number of places by the Ukrainians to document the cruel deeds. In today’s episode 247 of “Today Important” he says: “We were taken to a country school in Butscha and taken to a cellar there. There were five male corpses, allegedly civilians, we were told. They were tied up, we could see they had shots in the head, allegedly shot by the Russians.” It is difficult to verify the deeds unequivocally. For Ukraine, it’s a means of exerting pressure, says Gordian Fritz: “What struck me was that Ukraine is of course using these images and these alleged acts to put pressure on the West.”
cluster bombs and rapes
Reporter Jan-Christoph Wiechmann dealt with the Butscha case and spoke to Human Rights Germany about possible war crimes. “According to an examination by Human Rights Watch, there is now innumerable evidence of Russian war crimes. That the Russians use banned cluster bombs is considered certain, for example in the residential areas of Kharkiv. (…) The use of anti-personnel mines is also a war crime by the Russians. Am On March 28, these anti-personnel mines were deployed in the Kharkiv region, which can indiscriminately kill and maim people within a radius of 16 meters.” There are also reports of rapes by Russian soldiers, reports Wiechmann.
© TVNOW / Andreas Friese
Podcast “important today”
Sure, opinionated, on the 12: “today important” is not just a news podcast. We set topics and initiate debates – with attitude and sometimes uncomfortable. Host Michel Abdollahi and his team speak out for this star– and RTL reporters with the most exciting people from politics, society and entertainment. They let all voices have their say, both the quiet and the loud. Anyone who hears “important today” starts the day well informed and can have a well-founded say.
“And then there are the war crimes of bombing the civilian population, which violates the Geneva Convention. A rocket aimed at a residential building that kills people and causes damage, that alone constitutes a war crime. And we saw that in large numbers.”
Human Rights Watch even hopes that individual Russian commanders will be indicted before the International Criminal Court — and perhaps even Vladimir Putin himself. But there is still a long way to go before evidence is collected and a United Nations commission of inquiry launched.
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