Zelenskyy at the UN accuses Russian military of war crimes
UKRAINE,RUSSIA: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russian troops of gruesome atrocities in Ukraine and told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday that those responsible should immediately be brought up on war crimes charges in front of a tribunal like the one set up at Nuremberg after World War II.
Zelenskyy, appearing via video from Ukraine, told council members that civilians had been shot in the back of the head after being tortured, blown up with grenades in their apartments and crushed to death by tanks while in cars.
“They cut off limbs, cut their throats. Women were raped and killed in front of their children. Their tongues were pulled out only because their aggressor did not hear what they wanted to hear from them,” he said, recounting what he described as the worst atrocities since World War II.
Likening the troops’ actions to those of Islamic State, Zelenskyy said: “The Russian military and those who gave them orders must be brought to justice immediately for war crimes in Ukraine.”
“Anyone who has given criminal orders and carried them out by killing our people will be brought before the tribunal which should be similar to the Nuremberg tribunals,” he said.
The war between Russia and Ukraine entered the 42nd day on Wednesday and the United States and its allies were set to impose new sanctions on Moscow over the alleged civilian killings in northern Ukraine. The US also pushed the UN General Assembly to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council based on Ukraine’s accusations against Russian troops.
Meanwhile,Russia has supplied to Ukraine 8,500 tonnes of humanitarian cargoes since March 2, head of the Russian National Defense Control Center, Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev, said.
“Starting from March 2, the Russian Federation has already delivered 8,541.3 tonnes of humanitarian cargoes to Ukraine, carried out 757 humanitarian actions, including seven in the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics and the Kherson Region,” Col. Gen. Mizintsev said.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the West on Tuesday of trying to derail negotiations between Russia and Ukraine by fuelling “hysteria” over alleged war crimes by Moscow’s forces.
Kyiv and the West say there is evidence – including images and witness testimony gathered by Reuters and other media organisations – that Russia committed war crimes in the Ukrainian town of Bucha. Moscow denies the charge and has called the allegations a “monstrous forgery.”
Meanwhile, Russian forces have completely destroyed the world’s largest aircraft that was kept in Ukraine’s Hostomel airport. The aircraft An-225 Mriya once nicknamed ‘Dream’ has been reduced to metal scraps after the attacks.
The aircraft was kept inside the Antonov International Airport, also known as the Hostomel Airport. The airport has been completely destroyed by the Russian attacks. The airport was located just outside Kyiv and was among the first strategic targets of the invasion. – INDIAN EXPRESS, INDIA TODAY