Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky describes Bucha killings as ‘genocide’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Russia’s attacks “genocide” after viewing the images of 20 dead civilians scattered on the streets of the Ukrainian city of Bucha.

“Indeed. This is genocide,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday during an appearance on CBS News when he was asked if Russia was waging a full-blown genocide in Ukraine. 

 “The elimination of the whole nation, and the people. We are the citizens of Ukraine. We have more than 100 nationalities. This is about the destruction and extermination of all these nationalities,” he continued. 

Zelensky added that Ukraine does not wish to be “subdued to the policy of the Russian Federation,” which is the reason why the country and its people “are being destroyed and exterminated.”

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“This is happening in the Europe of the 21st century. So, this is the torture of the whole nation,” he told the viewers. 

Bucha, a city that lies to the northwest of the capital of Kyiv, fell victim to one of Russia’s most brutal attacks on Sunday. Over 20 corpses of civilian men were found scattered on the streets following a “scale-back” of Russian troops, according to images released by AFP.

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Bucha’s mayor Anatoliy Fedoruk said that the dead civilians have received cruel and inhumane treatment from Russian forces. 

“Corpses of executed people still line the Yabluska street in Bucha. Their hands are tied behind their backs with white ‘civilian’ rags, they were shot in the back of their heads. So you can imagine what kind of lawlessness they perpetrated here,” Fedoruk told Reuters.

The atrocity has garnered outrage from all around the world, with leaders from the West calling for war crime probes and more sanctions on Russia.