On the 40th day of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, this Monday April 4, it is the indignation which dominates after the discovery of scenes suggesting war crimes in the areas liberated after the departure of the Russian forces .
► The site of the Russian editorial staff of RFI broadcasts Ukrainian public radio (in Ukrainian language) from the homepage.
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The main points:
► Ukraine on Sunday accused Russia of committinga “ genocide »the day after the discovery of many bodies of civilians in the town of Boutcha, near kyiv, after the withdrawal of troops from Moscow, which sparked outrage in Europe and the United States. Russia denies any involvement in what it considers a Ukrainian provocation and has requested a debate in the UN Security Council.
► One series of strikes targeted Sunday morning infrastructures of the port ofOdessahitherto relatively spared.
► The main Russian negotiator on Sunday tempered the remarks of his Ukrainian counterpart who had indicated on Saturday evening that Moscow had accepted “ orally » the main Ukrainian proposals. Negotiations are due to resume on Monday.
Times are given in Universal Time (UT)
04:45: A mass grave 14 meters long around a church in Boutcha
Satellite images taken on March 31 show a nearly 14-meter trench dug into the ground around a church in Boutcha, where a mass grave was identified after Russian troops withdrew. In the still-open mass grave, feet and hands could still be seen protruding from the earth, according to Reuters reporters.
04:00: The Ukrainian authorities close Boutcha
More than 400 bodies were found in the liberated areas, particularly in the locality of Boutcha. Destroyed buildings, gutted roads. The corpses of civilians who were unable to flee are also piled up in a mass grave, reports our special correspondent in kyiv, Sami Boukhelifa. The Ukrainian authorities sealed Boutcha. A curfew is decreed there until Tuesday morning. Objective: identify the victims, the survivors and demine the city.
Boutcha, Irpin, two neighboring towns, two key localities in the suburbs of kyiv. From the first days of the war, they were attacked and crushed by the bombs of the Russian forces. In sight, the nearby Ukrainian capital. But the locks hold. The progress of the Russian army is stopped. After 30 days of intense fighting, Moscow finally announced a strategic redeployment in the east of the country. His troops retreat from Boutcha and leave the horror behind.
The lifeless bodies of men and women in civilian clothes still lie in the streets of Boutcha, scattered over several hundred meters, in a town itself disfigured by the fighting. Face against the ground, sometimes hands tied behind the back, sign “ summary executions “, denounce organizations for the defense of human rights. Ukraine denounces a ” genocide committed by the Russian army. The Russian army, she denies.
3:15 a.m .: US government official denounces Russia’s request to the Security Council
” Russia resorts to the same scenario as for Crimea and Aleppo: forced to defend the indefensible (here, the atrocities of Boutcha), Russia calls for a UN Security Council meeting in a way to feign outrage and demand accountability “, tweeted the head of the United States Agency for International Development (USAid), Samantha Power, former ambassador of her country to the United Nations. ” nobody believes it “, she added.
2:55 a.m .: In Boutcha, civilian victims of abuses by the Russian army had to be buried in improvised mass graves
The total death toll is still uncertain. According to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Iryna Venediktova, the lifeless bodies of 410 civilians were found in the territories of the Kyiv region recently recaptured from Russian troops.
2:05 am: A recorded speech by Volodymyr Zelensky broadcast during the Grammy Awards ceremony
The Ukrainian president intervened Sunday via a speech recorded during the 64th edition of the Grammy Awards, equivalent of the Oscars for American music, to ask for support for his country, in the grip of an invasion by Russia. “ The war. What is the most opposite of music? The silence of ruined cities and people killed “Launched President Zelensky with his usual khaki t-shirt, before a performance by John Legend, joined on stage by Ukrainian artists, Mika Newton and Lyuba Yakimchukt. ” Fill the silence with your music. Fill it today, to tell our story (…) Everything, but not the silence added the Ukrainian president.
1:00 a.m.: Deputy program director at Human Rights Watch not surprised by Russian abuses
First of all, these kinds of abuses are unfortunately not uncommon in armed conflicts. But it is above all the modus operandi of the Russian forces. We have seen it in Chechnya and Syria. So we shouldn’t be surprised. In fact, many people expected this kind of behavior from Russian forces in Ukraine.
Fred Abrahams, deputy program director at Human Rights Watch
00:05 am: Russia wants to convene the UN Security Council on the “provocation” of Boutcha
Russia has asked the United Nations to convene its Security Council on Monday to discuss what it presents as a ” provocation of Ukrainian radicals in the city of Boutcha, after kyiv accused Moscow of war crimes.
” In light of the blatant provocation by Ukrainian radicals in Bucha, Russia has called for a meeting of the UN Security Council to be convened “said Dmitry Polanski, first deputy permanent representative of Russia to the UN, on Telegram messaging.