one year later, Ukraine commemorates the Boutcha massacre

Published on : 03/31/2023 – 07:43Modified : 03/31/2023 – 07:47

• 7:10 a.m .: Russia “should not be” permanent member of the Security Council, according to the American ambassador to the UN

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Russia “should not be” a permanent member of the UN Security Council, in an exclusive interview with AFP.

“Russia is a permanent member of the Security Council. It shouldn’t be because of what it is doing in Ukraine, but the (United Nations) charter does not allow changing its status as a permanent member,” he said. deplored Linda Thomas-Greenfield to AFP from Costa Rica where she was participating in a Democracy Summit.

Russia is due to take over the executive body of the United Nations from Saturday for a month, succeeding Mozambique.

The US ambassador stressed that she expects Russia to behave “professionally” in the presidency, while expressing doubts.

“We also expect them to also seek opportunities to advance their disinformation campaign against Ukraine, the United States and all of our allies,” the Washington ambassador said.

• 3:50 a.m.: an year later, Ukraine commemorates the Boutcha massacre

Ukraine commemorates on Friday the anniversary of the Russian withdrawal from the martyr city of Boutcha, where the occupants had left behind them the corpses of coldly executed civilians, making this locality near Kiev the most glaring symbol of the atrocities attributed to the troops. from Moscow.

On March 31, 2022, the Russian army withdrew from this city and all of northern Kiev, a month after launching the invasion of the country on the orders of President Vladimir Putin. Two days after the withdrawal, the massacre was known.

AFP journalists discovered in Boutcha on April 2 charred carcasses of vehicles, destroyed houses and above all, scattered over several hundred meters, the bodies of twenty men in civilian clothes, one of whom had his hands tied in the back.

These scenes shocked the whole world, kyiv and Westerners denouncing summary executions of civilians and war crimes. The Kremlin denies him any involvement and evokes a staging.

During his visit to the site two days after the discovery, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, visibly upset, had denounced “war crimes” which will be “recognized by the world as genocide”.

Since then, almost all foreign leaders who have visited Ukraine have made a detour to go to Boutcha.

Russian forces have been accused of multiple abuses by Ukrainian authorities after the discovery of hundreds of bodies in Boutcha and other towns, hundreds of graves near Izium or “torture chambers” in recaptured towns, according to Kiev.

The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin in March for the “deportation” of thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia.

Kiev, for its part, insists on the creation of a special tribunal to try the most senior Russian officials for the “crime of aggression” against Ukraine, but its exact form raises complex legal questions and reluctance.

• Highlights of March 30

At least six Russian missiles hit the city of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine. Authorities are investigating whether there are casualties, regional governor Oleh Sinegubov said.

Russia has remanded an American journalist from the Wall Street Journal whom it accuses of espionage, an unprecedented case in the country’s recent history which has raised the “concern” of the United States.

Finally, Turkey approved Finland’s membership of NATO, the last country in the Alliance to give the green light after that of Hungary.

01:10

With AFP and Reuters