Analysis: Images of dead civilians in Ukraine shake the world

That’s how Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described the shocking images of at least 20 civilian male bodies scattered across the street in Bucha, northwest of the capital of Kiev, after the withdrawal of Russian troops from the area.

Reports of alleged Russian atrocities, including the horrific images of dead civilians captured by Agence France-Presse, are emerging as troops withdraw from areas near Kiev after a failed attempt to encircle the capital.

“The elimination of the entire nation and the people. We are the citizens of Ukraine. We have more than 100 nationalities. This is about the destruction and extermination of all these nationalities,” Zelensky said on CBS News’ Face the Nation on Sunday. When asked whether Russia is committing genocide.

DailyExpertNews has not been able to independently confirm the details surrounding the men’s deaths.

Russia responds. The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that the elaborate images of dead bodies in Bucha were “fake”, saying that “no local resident was the victim of violent actions” during the Russian occupation of Bucha.

“In the settlements in the Kiev region, Russian military personnel delivered 452 tons of humanitarian aid to civilians,” it said in a statement. A separate statement claimed the footage was faked.

The Russian government has consistently responded to allegations of civilian casualties inflicted by Russian forces with general denials.

DailyExpertNews team observes a mass grave. A mass grave has been discovered in the town of Bucha, DailyExpertNews found. DailyExpertNews saw at least a dozen bodies piled in body bags in the grave. Some were already partially covered.

Bodies were first buried in the grave, on the grounds of the Church of St. Andrew and Pyervozvannoho All Saints, in the early days of the war, residents told DailyExpertNews. About 150 people, mostly civilians who died in the fighting around the city, are buried there, residents said. The mayor of Bucha said in public comments on Saturday that up to 300 victims could be buried on site. DailyExpertNews was unable to independently verify those numbers or the identities and nationalities of those buried in the grave.

“A punch in the stomach.” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday that the State Department will help document all the atrocities committed by the Russian military against Ukrainian civilians.

“You can’t help but see this footage as a punch to your stomach,” Blinken told DailyExpertNews’s Dana Bash on Sunday on “State of the Union,” responding to Bucha’s reports.

Last month, the Foreign Ministry formally accused the Russian armed forces of war crimes in Ukraine.

When asked on Sunday whether Russian troops committed genocide, Blinken did not go as far as Zelensky.

“We will look closely and document everything we see, put everything together, make sure that the relevant institutions and organizations looking at this, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have everything they need to assess exactly what happened in Ukraine … is responsible and what it entails,” he said.

New research on the way? The top UN official said an “independent investigation” into the civilians killed in Bucha is “essential” to ensure “effective accountability”.

“I am deeply shocked by the images of the civilian casualties in Bucha, Ukraine,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement on Sunday.

More sanctions may be forthcoming. State Department spokesman Ned Price, meanwhile, hinted at additional US action against Russia coming “very soon” when asked about Zelensky’s request for tougher G7 sanctions in response to the latest alleged atrocities in Bucha.

“When it comes to our sanctions, we have always said that we will continue to put pressure on President Putin, on the Kremlin, on everyone around him, including oligarchs and cronies who amplify this war of choice against Ukraine, until and unless the Kremlin de-escalates, until and unless the violence subsides, and until and unless such atrocities stop. So I suspect you’ll see extra pressure very soon,” Price told MSNBC on Sunday.

‘Not enough.’ In a video address later Sunday, calling for an end to Russia’s “war crimes,” Zelensky said of tougher sanctions against Russia: “I’m sure that’s not enough.”

“More conclusions are needed. Not only about Russia, but also about the political behavior that allowed this evil to come to our country,” he added.

Expect the attacks to continue. This is not a “real withdrawal of Russian troops,” said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, warning that attacks in Ukraine will continue.

“What we are seeing is not a real withdrawal. But we are seeing Russia reposition its troops and they are taking back some of them to rearm them, to reinforce them, to resupply them. We must not be too optimistic in a way, because the attacks will continue,” Stoltenberg told DailyExpertNews on Sunday.