Amnesty International denounced alleged war crimes perpetrated by the government of Vladimir Putin on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital. The secretary general of the organization Agnès Callamard presented in kyiv the report of an investigation that details the findings made in that area, in which the “illegitimate use of force” for attacks against civilians is condemned and the aggressors are demanded to render accounts before the court.
The document He’s Not Coming Back: War Crimes in Northwest Areas of Kyiv Oblast (“He Won’t Come Back: War Crimes in the Northwest Areas of kyiv Oblast”) consists of interviews with Ukrainians and an analysis of evidence collected on the ground during twelve days of fieldwork. In addition, it documents air attacks considered illegitimate, committed in Borodyanka, as well as extrajudicial executions in various locations, such as Adriivka, Vorzel or Bucha.
“Let’s be clear, extrajudicial executions committed in an international armed conflict are a war crime; indiscriminate air strikes carried out with malicious intent are also war crimes,” Callamard told a news conference. The secretary general has also recalled that the invasion of the Kremlin has also led to disproportionate attacks and abuses against civilians, some housed in shelters.
Amnesty International’s report places particular emphasis on accountability, emphasizing that “all those responsible, including the chain of command, must be brought to justice.”
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According to the report, at least forty people died after the devastation of an entire neighborhood in Borodyanka, leaving thousands of people homeless. In the now infamous city of Bucha and in other towns northwest of kyiv, 22 killings were recorded, most of which could be extrajudicial executions. Amnesty International interviewed civilians in these towns and visited the places where the alleged crimes took place.
The investigation reports that at the end of February the Russian army troops occupied Bucha, about thirty kilometers from kyiv, and between March 4 and 19, five extrajudicial executions may have been carried out. In addition, between March 1 and 2, several air strikes were carried out on Borodyanka, sixty kilometers from the capital, hitting eight apartment buildings in which more than six hundred families lived.
