In the speech, he also blasted the former leaders of Germany and France, Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy. They were the leaders who refused to give Ukraine a formal NATO membership action plan to Ukraine, stating that they were not ready yet and that their membership would damage diplomatic relations with Putin.
Merkel, through her spokeswoman, responded by saying that she stood by her decision in 2008 at the Bucharest summit and stated that she still supported Ukraine and stood with the country through their difficulties in the current war. Sarkozy did not comment on the matter.
Chief of the UK Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) Richard Moore claimed that they knew Putin had included summary executions as part of his plans to invade Ukraine and that they were really to be done by his military and intelligence services. He tweeted this through a quote tweet, citing the statement of British MP and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, stating that Russians must be held accountable for what they did to civilians in Bucha, Irpin, and everywhere else.
We knew Putin’s invasion plans included summary executions by his military and intelligence services. The reports of execution-style killings of civilians emerging from liberated areas are horrifying and chilling. https://t.co/Yea1Lhsqe6
— Richard Moore (@ChiefMI6) April 3, 2022
In response, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claimed that these reports of summary executions were just “fake attacks” and demanded that there be an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the issue. They apparently saw the news of the summary executions as “provocations” and a “direct threat to international peace and security.”
Russia’s Spokesman Dmitry Peskov also cast his doubts on the reports of mass graves in Bucha, stating that the videos and photographs could not be trusted. The Russian Defense Ministry found evidence of video manipulation on circulating videos of the mass graves. Despite their claims, multiple news organizations have verified the authenticity of the videos and photographs. They also accused the Ukrainians of faking the photos and videos, calling it a “staged performance.”
Ironically, UN’s Human Rights Chief Michelle Bachelet said that she was horrified by the images and news of civilians lying dead on the streets in Bucha. She described these incidents to be raising “serious and disturbing questions about possible war crimes, grave breaches of international humanitarian law, and serious violations of international human rights law.”
https://twitter.com/FedorovMykhailo/status/1510912029044920323
Secretary of State Antony Blinken strongly condemned the Russian executions of civilians through a tweet, stating that “We are pursuing accountability using every tool available, documenting and sharing information to hold accountable those responsible.”
One of Russia’s allies, Beijing, refused to condemn the alleged summary execution and chose to stay silent. They have been known to balance their support for the Kremlin and the West in recent months. However, they have also been known to parrot Russia’s statements and concerns about their “security.” This is not a surprise as the Chinese describe their relationship with Russia as “limitless.”
As Ukrainian forces continue to gain ground back, it is likely that more evidence of atrocities against civilians and more mass graves is going to be found, among reports of rampant war crimes by the Russians continuously being reported in various news outlets. In fact, just last week, SOFREP reported that Russians had gang-raped a Ukrainian mother and a number of Ukrainian minors as they were leaving Ukrainian territory. These actions are in stark contrast to the public remarks made by Putin when his army invaded Ukraine and he appealed to Ukrainians as the brothers and sisters of Russians and claimed his invasion of the country was to “protect” from the supposed Nazi government of President Zelensky.
An ongoing investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) was launched early in March, investigating Russia for alleged war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity they may have committed. The investigation is said to go back as far as 2013 during the events leading up to the annexation of Crimea in 2014. Lastly, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had called for an independent investigation of the atrocities in Bucha and its surrounding areas.











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