Ukraine: President Zelensky before the UN Security Council after visiting Boutcha

Europe 1 with AFP 07:11, April 05, 2022

THE ESSENTIAL

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will speak on Tuesday before the UN Security Council, after the discovery of massacres attributed to Russian forces near kyiv, and in particular in Boutcha where he went on Monday.

The leader, who denounced "war crimes" and "genocide" after the update of dozens of corpses wearing civilian clothes in Boutcha and other localities near the Ukrainian capital, will intervene before the Security Council for the first time since the invasion of his country by Russia, indicated the United Kingdom which currently chairs this body of the United Nations.

Russia protested for its part against the refusal of Great Britain, according to it, to convene at its request the Security Council, on the situation in Boutcha, indicated the Tass agency.

In a video broadcast overnight from Monday to Tuesday, Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed his intervention by video before the UN, which we do not know if it will take place live or delayed.

"The time will come when every Russian will learn the whole truth about who among their compatriots killed. Who gave the orders," he said in the video, calling for tougher sanctions against Moscow and more armaments to his country.

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Earlier Monday, wearing a bulletproof vest, he went to Boutcha where dozens of corpses were found in this small town located about thirty kilometers northwest of kyiv, after the withdrawal of Russian forces.

"You are here and you can see what happened. We know that thousands of people were killed and tortured, had their limbs torn, women were raped and children killed," he said. declared during an improvised press briefing, after having walked a few meters in a street in the city center, strewn with the shredded carcasses of Russian personnel carriers and armored vehicles, in the middle of destroyed houses.

Russia denied any responsibility, assuring Monday that it was going to present "documents" showing, according to it, the "true nature" of the events which took place in Boutcha.

"War Criminal" 

The discovery of these "war crimes" has provoked outrage from Ukraine's Western allies who have promised new sanctions "this week" against Russia.

“He must be held to account,” US President Joe Biden said on Monday of his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, repeating that he considered him a “war criminal”.

The US government has also indicated that it will try to obtain Russia's suspension from the UN Human Rights Council this week.

A vote by the UN General Assembly to decide on this suspension could take place as early as Thursday, according to Washington.

Russia reacted by describing this step as "incredible" and judging that it would not facilitate "peace talks" between Russians and Ukrainians.

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said discussions between allies on new sanctions included possible measures "related to energy", a very sensitive subject for the Europeans, highly dependent on Russian gas.

Germany thus clarified on Monday that it could not do without Russian gas deliveries "in the short term", through the voice of its Finance Minister, Christian Lindner.

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The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, had earlier called on the leaders of the 27 to establish "binding embargoes" on Russian energy imports.

The Europeans also reacted by announcing the concerted expulsion of dozens of Russian diplomats, around 40 from Germany and 35 from France.

This "unfriendly" expulsion will "deteriorate" relations with Russia, reacted Moscow after the announcement from Berlin.

Lithuania announced the same day the expulsion of the Russian ambassador to this Baltic country.

"Joint" team 

The EU is also setting up a "joint team with Ukraine to (...) investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity", European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. who spoke Monday with Volodymyr Zelensky, according to the latter.

The EU wants to join forces with the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has been investigating allegations of war crimes in Ukraine since March 3.

After the Russian withdrawal around kyiv, Ukraine is now preparing for a "massive attack" in the Lugansk region in eastern Ukraine, its governor, Serguiï Gaïdaï, announced on Monday.

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And while waiting for the Russian steamroller, the Donbass under Ukrainian control is emptying of its population.

Women, children, the elderly … There were hundreds this weekend and this beginning of the week waiting for their train at the station of Kramatorsk, the regional capital in fact, since October 2014, of the territory still under the control of kyiv.

Two-thirds of the Russian forces that had occupied the kyiv region since the start of the invasion have retreated to Belarus, a senior Pentagon official said on Monday, saying it is likely a reorganization ahead of another assault elsewhere. in Ukraine.

 "Reposition your strengths" 

And for the White House, this new phase of the war in Ukraine "could last for months or more".

Russia "is in the process of repositioning its forces to focus its offensive on eastern and parts of southern Ukraine".

She "tried to subjugate all of Ukraine and failed," Sullivan said on Monday.

"Moscow will continue airstrikes and missile strikes on the rest of the country to cause military and economic damage and also, clearly, to sow terror," the White House national security adviser said.

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The inhabitants of the Ukrainian capital who fled the Russian invasion were called on Monday by its mayor Vitali Klitschko not to return there for "at least a week", as Russian bombardments could still occur there, according to him.

During the night of Monday to Tuesday, the warning sirens sounded from north to south of the country, in kyiv, Odessa or even Kharkiv, the country's second city.