Zelenskyj on sanctions: “Impressive, but not sufficient”

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy continues to urge tougher Western action against Russia. After the atrocities in Bucha, several bodies are said to have been discovered in another Kiev suburb.

In view of a possible Russian offensive in the east and south of Ukraine and the horrific pictures from the Kiev suburb of Bucha, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj continues to press for decisive action by the West.

The sanctions imposed on Russia so far by Western countries are “impressive”, but they are not enough, emphasized Zelenskyj in a video speech that was published on Telegram that night. Great Britain ordered further punitive measures against Russia on Wednesday. The EU also wants to tighten its sanctions again and plans to stop deliveries of Russian coal to the EU.

Zelenskyj calls for an oil embargo

But from Zelenskyj’s point of view, another “really painful package of sanctions” is needed. In addition to a coal embargo, he also called for an oil embargo against Russia. Because Russia earns so much money with oil exports that the current peace negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian sides hardly need to be taken seriously. “The only question is how many Ukrainians the Russian military has to kill before you, certain politicians – and we know who you are – show a certain determination,” Zelenskyj said in his speech. The atrocities in Bucha in particular showed that the steps taken against Russia so far were not enough.

Russia denies war crimes

Since the weekend, images have caused horror around the world showing corpses on the streets of the city of Bucha, not far from Kyiv. Around 330 dead people have reportedly been recovered there so far. From the Ukrainian government’s point of view, they are proof of the targeted killing of civilians and thus of war crimes. Moscow denies this and speaks of “falsification” – but without submitting any evidence. Atrocities had also been previously reported from the Ukrainian city of Irpin, directly adjacent to Bucha.

Western government experts believe that more atrocities in Ukraine will soon come to light. “I think this will be an issue in the coming days and weeks,” said a government official in London. Investigations into Russian war crimes would be one of the “legacies” of this conflict, the government expert said. The specific responsibility for the atrocities lies with the perpetrators, but the Russian leadership also bears a responsibility.

Bodies discovered in Hostomel

As the newspaper “Ukrajinska Pravda” reported, several bodies were recently discovered in a garage in Hostomel, a suburb of Kyiv. The newspaper referred to a telegram entry by former Interior Minister Arsen Avakov. Accordingly, the eleven killed are civilians. The information cannot be independently verified.

Since the beginning of the war, Hostomel, with its nearby airfield, has been one of the most contested places. Most of the population living there fled. According to the local military administration, around 400 residents of Hostomel are missing.

In his speech, Zelenskyi also spoke of “thousands of missing people” who were either kidnapped to Russia or killed. At the same time, he accused the Russian military of wanting to cover up its own war crimes by asking “to remove the dead people, the dead Ukrainians, from the streets and basements of the territories they occupied.” In this context, the Ukrainian President appealed to the Russian population:

Drastic accusations from the mayor of Mariupol

The mayor of the embattled Ukrainian port of Mariupol has raised particularly drastic allegations. He accused Russia of burning corpses in mobile crematoria to cover up war crimes. This is how traces should be blurred, the city administration explained on Telegram. “This is a new Auschwitz and Majdanek,” Mayor Wadym Boychenko was quoted as saying. The “dirty work” should be done by local supporters of the Russians.

Reports from Mariupol have hardly been able to be checked independently for weeks, also because international media can no longer work on site. Ukrainian authorities and the media had previously reported that Russian units used mobile crematoria. At that time, however, it was said that these were used to burn the corpses of their own soldiers in order to cover up the numbers of their own soldiers killed. So far there has been no confirmation of this either.

Kuleba urges ‘guns, guns, guns’

In addition to stricter sanctions, Zelenskyj is also demanding more arms deliveries for his country. At a NATO meeting, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also called for more arms supplies. His agenda for the meeting in Brussels consists of only three points: “It’s weapons, weapons, weapons.” In this context, Kuleba again criticized the German government. With regard to arms deliveries, Germany could do more “given its reserves and capacities”. But the procedures and decision-making took too long. “While Berlin has time, Kyiv has none,” Kuleba warned.

Both Ukraine and the West fear that Russia, after withdrawing its troops from the north of the country, now wants to concentrate its offensive on the east and south of Ukraine. On Wednesday, the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, Iryna Wereshchuk, called on the population in the endangered areas of eastern Ukraine to leave and get to safety.

However, the mayor of Kharkiv tried to calm down after this appeal. Neither he nor the military currently considered it necessary to carry out a large-scale evacuation in Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov said in a video message. The city is well armed and ready for defense. However, the situation is different in the Lozova and Barvinkove districts, which belong to the Kharkiv region and are close to the Donbass. The Ukrainian military expects the situation there to deteriorate.

Ten escape corridors planned

During the course of the day, attempts will be made in Ukraine via a total of ten escape corridors to bring people from hotly contested regions to safety, announced Vice Prime Minister Wereschuk. The population of the port city of Mariupol, where the supply situation is particularly catastrophic, would have to use their own vehicles. Evacuations have repeatedly failed in the past because planned fire breaks were not observed or convoys were prevented from continuing their journey.