UK says collecting evidence of ‘abhorrent’ atrocities in Bucha for war crimes probe

By ToI Staff and AFP 3 April 2022, 8:35 am

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A dead body lies on the ground in a street in Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, as Ukraine says Russian forces are making a 'rapid retreat' from northern areas around Kyiv and the city of Chernigiv, on April 2, 2022 (RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP)

The United Kingdom says it is working with “others” to collect evidence of war crimes in Ukraine.

“Appalled by atrocities in Bucha and other towns in Ukraine. Reports of Russian forces targeting innocent civilians are abhorrent,” tweets Foreign Secretary Liz Truss. “The UK is working with others to collect evidence and support the International Criminal Court war crimes investigation. Those responsible will be held to account.”

The statement comes as evidence emerges of possible civilian killings in areas the invading Russian forces have been occupying.

Reporters saw at least 20 bodies, all in civilian clothing, strewn across a single street in the town of Bucha near the capital and the body of a missing photographer was discovered in a nearby village.

One had his hands tied behind his back with a white cloth, and his Ukrainian passport left open beside his corpse.

“All these people were shot,” says Bucha Mayor Anatoly Fedoruk, adding that 280 other bodies had been buried in mass graves in the town.

“These are the consequences of Russian occupation,” says Fedoruk.

The International Criminal Court has already opened a probe into possible war crimes committed in Ukraine, and several Western leaders, including US President Joe Biden, have accused Russia’s Vladimir Putin of being a “war criminal.”