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Ukraine war
Bucha crimes are to be solved – Mariupol as a key target of the invasion
The satellite image from March 31 is said to show a mass grave at a church in Bucha. A moat above the church is clearly visible.
© Maxar Technologies / AFP
The world is appalled by the Russian massacre in Bucha. Now the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office has announced investigations. Meanwhile, President Zelenskyj fears further crimes? The most important developments in star-Live blog.
Was Bucha just the beginning? Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fears further war crimes in his country that could be “even more terrible” after the withdrawal of Russian troops. Other regions of the country are still under Russian control. “More deaths and mistreatment” could become known there, said Selenskyj. After Russian troops withdrew from Bucha, the bodies of more than 400 civilians were discovered in the Kyiv suburb. Selenskyj spoke of a “genocide”. According to the Attorney General’s Office, 140 of the 410 bodies recovered so far from the Kyiv region have been autopsied since Friday. In addition, more than 50 employees of the public prosecutor’s office and the national police started investigations into the crimes in the Bucha area. There should also be investigations in other regions.
Meanwhile, according to British military intelligence, the Ukrainian port of Mariupol is “most likely” a key target of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. By taking the city, which is still heavily contested, a direct land connection could be established between Russia and the occupied Crimean peninsula, according to an update from the British Ministry of Defense on Monday night, citing intelligence information.
The most important things at a glance:
- The Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office has launched an investigation into the crime in Bucha involving more than 400 civilians.
- Economics Minister Habeck has announced further EU sanctions for this week
- Seven people were killed in the shelling of Kharkiv in north-eastern Ukraine in the night
Read all the developments of the day in our live blog here.
Day 40 in the Ukraine War
Seven people were killed and 34 injured in a Russian attack on a residential area in Kharkiv in north-eastern Ukraine, according to Ukrainian sources. Three children were among the injured, the local public prosecutor said on Telegram on Sunday. The Russian troops fired on a residential area on Sunday evening, damaging ten houses and a bus depot.
Ukraine’s second largest city has been the target of repeated bombing raids since the beginning of the Russian invasion. Russian forces also shelled the nearby town of Dergachi. At least three civilians were killed and seven others injured, Mayor Vychaeslaw Sadorenko said on Facebook.
According to Ukrainian information, more than 2,600 people were brought to safety on Sunday from particularly hard-fought Ukrainian cities. Of the 2,694 people, almost 1,500 were rescued from the Luhansk region, said Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk on Sunday, according to the Ukrajinska Pravda newspaper. She accused the Russian side of violating the agreed ceasefire.
On Sunday, almost 500 people fled to Zaporizhia in their own vehicles from the embattled port city of Mariupol and from Berdyansk. According to Vereshchuk, seven buses accompanied by the Red Cross were also able to drive from Mariupol to Mangush. The Red Cross had to abort an evacuation attempt on Friday.