Authorities and leaders in several countries condemn the atrocities against the civilian population now being exposed in Butja, one of several cities in the Kyiv region.
The city, with about 35,000 inhabitants, was captured by Russian ground troops on February 27 and has been taken back by Ukrainian units after just over a month of fierce fighting.
"Should be protected according to"
Ove Bring is an international law expert and professor emeritus of international law at Stockholm University and the Swedish National Defense College.
According to him, there is no doubt at all that what happened in Butja are war crimes, and that they were committed by the Russian military.
- It is the worst form of war crimes, because it is committed deliberately against civilians who do not take part in the fighting at all and should be protected under international law, Bring says and adds:
- Should be, and it has not worked.
A journalist who is on site in Butja, less than 30 km from the capital Kyiv, photographs one of several mass graves that have been found in the city after the Russian withdrawal three days ago.
Photo: Rodrigo Abd / AP / TT
Exactly what has happened in the city and who is in the mass graves that have been discovered is still uncertain.
But Mayor Anatolii Fedoruk has said more than 300 have been buried.
At the same time, the human rights organization Human Rights Watch publishes a document on possible war crimes committed by Russian soldiers in the cities of Chernihiv, Kharkiv and in the Kyiv region, including rapes and pure executions.
- We will find out about this war crime (in Butja), it is already documented.
Other war crimes are being documented.
There are investigators from the UN, from the permanent criminal court in The Hague, who are on site in Ukraine and document what has happened and what is happening right now, says Ove Bring.
There have also been reports that Ukrainian forces have committed war crimes. How to look at it?
- They are worth investigating.
It is probably Russian propaganda, but that does not prevent it from being the case that Ukrainian forces have also committed errors and abuses.
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Three questions about war crimes Photo: Evgeniy Maloletka / AP / TT