Kyiv/MOSCOW (dpa-AFX) – Under the impression of new war crimes after Russia’s attack on Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyj in Kyiv reiterated his call for an oil embargo against Moscow. “If tyranny has launched an aggression against everything on which peace in Europe rests, we must act immediately,” he said in a video message. Zelenkyj also phoned Chancellor Scholz on Sunday and demanded prosecution of war crimes as well as further help and further sanctions pressure against Russia. Ukraine, meanwhile, has accused the Russian military of further atrocities.
After the Russian troops withdrew from northern Ukraine, mass graves with civilians were found in more and more places. Authorities reported finding dozens of bodies west of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. “Today we found dead civilians in a pit near the gas station in Busowa,” community leader Taras Didych said on Ukrainian television that night. On the route from Kyiv to Zhytomyr, bodies were also found near the capital in cars that had been shot at.
Large number of Russian war crimes accused
Ukrainian Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova accused Russia of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in all regions of Ukraine. Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin described them as the “major war criminals of the 21st century”. Ukraine has identified 5,600 suspected war crimes cases involving 500 suspects.
This includes Friday’s rocket attack on the train station in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, which killed over 50 people. “Absolutely, this is a war crime,” she told British broadcaster Sky News on Sunday. Ukraine has evidence. Russia, on the other hand, claims it was a Ukrainian Tochka-U missile.
The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Ukraine, Pascal Hundt, told the broadcaster people were living in terrible conditions without food, electricity, water and heating. “The level of suffering that we’re seeing is just immense, and I don’t recall seeing that in recent history,” Hundt said.
Pope calls for mortal truce
Pope Francis called for a ceasefire during the Easter season. The head of the Catholic Church used the first major mass on St. Peter’s Square in Rome, which was filled with around 50,000 believers, to appeal for peace since the beginning of the corona pandemic. “Put down your arms and begin a mortal truce,” he said.
Ukraine calls “red lines” for talks with Russia
However, Ukraine does not expect Zelenskyy to meet Putin any time soon to negotiate an end to the war, as Presidential Advisor Mykhailo Podoliak said on Ukrainian television. Ukraine continues to insist on strong security guarantees and pays a very high price for it, Podoliak said. “Yes, it’s tough, we’re losing people and infrastructure every day. But Russia needs to get rid of its imperial illusions,” he said.
Ukraine’s chief negotiator David Arakhamiya said there was no tangible progress. For Kyiv, territorial unity remains a red line. “We will not give up any areas and we will not recognize anything,” he said, referring to the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea annexed by Russia in 2014 and the eastern Ukrainian “people’s republics” of Luhansk and Donetsk. Putin recognized both as independent states and then launched a war of aggression against Ukraine on February 24.
Russia continues attacks in eastern Ukraine
Meanwhile, Russia continued its missile attacks over the weekend. A total of 86 objects were hit within one day, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Sunday. In the Dnipropetrovsk region, the headquarters and base of the Dnipro Battalion were destroyed. This information could not be verified. Launch complexes of the S-300 air defense system were also destroyed at the military airfield in the garrison town of Chuhuiv in the Kharkov region, as well as several drones, two ammunition depots and three fuel depots in eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian President appreciates visits by Western politicians to Kyiv
In Kyiv, President Zelenskyy thanked British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer for their visit on Saturday. The meeting with Johnson shows that there are “no obstacles to freedom,” he said in the video message. “Britain’s leadership in helping us, particularly on defence, and also leadership on sanctions policy – they will go down in history forever.” He also spoke to Johnson about further financial and defense aid for Kyiv.
Ukraine speaks of dead and injured
Meanwhile, several civilians were killed and injured by shelling in the Donetsk region and in the north-eastern Kharkiv region, according to Ukrainian sources. The Ukrainian military administration blamed Russia for this. Ukrainian forces killed 80 soldiers and destroyed three tanks, one plane and one helicopter each in attacks on Russian troops on Saturday, it said. The information could not be independently verified. The fighting also continued in the port city of Mariupol.
NATO Secretary General speaks of “new reality”
In view of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg sees NATO in a “fundamental change”. “Regardless of when or how the war in Ukraine ends, the war is already having long-term consequences for our security,” said Stoltenberg in an interview with the British “Sunday Telegraph”. Stoltenberg said he was expecting decisions on this at the NATO summit in Madrid at the end of June.
Moscow: Hundreds of thousands fled to Russia
According to military information in Moscow, more than 700,000 people from the separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk and other parts of Ukraine have been evacuated to Russia since February 24. On Saturday alone, almost 27,000 people left the war-torn regions for Russia, said Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev. 134,000 people have been rescued from the southern Ukrainian port of Mariupol, which has been under fighting since the beginning of March. The figures are not independently verifiable.
Ukraine cuts off trade relations with Russia
Meanwhile, Ukraine imposed a trade embargo on Russia because of the war of aggression. “This is the legal enshrinement of the actual suspension of trade relations with the Russian Federation on February 24,” Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said, according to public broadcaster. The government estimates Moscow’s losses from the boycott at the equivalent of around 5.5 billion euros. A partial ban on imports of Russian goods has been in effect since 2015. However, Kyiv continues to transport up to around 100 million cubic meters of Russian natural gas westwards every day. For this, Russia pays transit fees to Ukraine./wo/DP/he