Zelenskiy calls for Bucha killings to be deemed genocide

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy called for killings by Russian soldiers to be recognised as a genocide as he walked streets of the town of Bucha left in ruins when the invading troops withdrew.

Evidence of apparent atrocities found in the wake of a Russian pullback caused international rage and stoked momentum for further sanctions, as locals told journalists of interrogations and the execution of civilians.

“These are war crimes, and will be recognised by the world as genocide,” Mr Zelenskiy told media amid ruined buildings and the husks of destroyed vehicles, as he visited Bucha tightly surrounded by Ukrainian military personnel.

“We know that thousands of people have been killed and tortured with extremities cut off, women raped, children murdered,” he said, urging western countries not to allow Russia the chance to regroup.

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United States president Joe Biden said he did not think the actions amounted to a genocide, but called them war crimes and said those responsible should by tried in court.

Mr Putin “is a war criminal”, Mr Biden told reporters. “We have to continue to provide Ukraine with the weapons they need to continue the fight. And we have to gather all the detail so this can be an actual . . . have a war crimes trial.”

Moral mission

The Kremlin has denied the accusations of atrocities and accused the Kyiv government of staging the images of dead civilians captured by reporters, which showed some found with groceries, others with hands tied behind their backs.

Mr Putin has characterised the invasion of Ukraine as a moral mission to rid the former Soviet state of political extremists, and Russian news media showed footage of soldiers in occupied eastern Ukraine on “cleaning” missions searching for people house to house.

European leaders declared they would ramp up sanctions against Moscow and work to further isolate Russia internationally amid widespread horror at the events.

“I rule nothing out,” said Taoiseach Micheál Martin when asked if Ireland should expel Russian ambassador Yuriy Filatov. “Europe is repulsed by this.”

Lithuania announced it was expelling its Russian ambassador, while Germany was expelling multiple members of the Russian embassy in Berlin in response to the apparent atrocities.

Mr Filatov has declined an invitation to attend Mr Zelenskiy’s virtual address to the joint Houses of the Oireachtas on Wednesday. A cross-party effort was to be made in the Dáil on Tuesday to withdraw Mr Filatov’s invitation to attend.

Further sanctions

EU finance ministers are set to discuss further sanctions on Russia on Tuesday, with efforts ongoing to identify measures that will hurt Russia more than the EU, and avoid risking a public backlash that could cause political instability.

“Economic growth will slow down this year” due to the war, Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe said after chairing a meeting of the Eurogroup, noting rising energy and food prices, and the disruption of supply chains.

French president Emmanuel Macron threw his weight behind a ban on Russian oil and coal, while Germany said existing sanctions should be tightened further. “We can’t accept this,” Mr Macron said.

The US is to seek to strip Russia of its seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council, as the body’s high commissioner for human rights Michelle Bachelet said “images of civilians lying dead on the streets and in improvised graves” would need to be investigated as possible war crimes.

The EU will send investigation teams to Kyiv “to support the Ukrainian prosecution services”, the European Commission announced after its president, Ursula von der Leyen, spoke to Mr Zelenksiy by phone.

“The perpetrators of these heinous crimes must not go unpunished,” she added.