9 a.m. UT. Russian occupation says it ‘eliminated’ armed group in Kherson
Russian occupation authorities in Kherson, southern Ukraine, say an armed group was destroyed in fighting on Saturday evening in the center of this city, which is the target of a counter-offensive Ukrainian. “In central Kherson, a clash between Russian army units patrolling the city streets and an unidentified group“, said the occupation administration on Saturday evening.
5:50 UT. Westerners react to discovery of hundreds of buried bodies
This gruesome spectacle has sparked a new wave of outrage in the West, just over five months after the Russian army, driven from the outskirts of kyiv, left behind hundreds of corpses of civilians, including a number wearing traces of torture and summary executions, particularly in the locality of Boutcha.
The United States and the European Union have expressed their outrage, holding responsible the Russian leadership which, assured the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, will have to “accountable“. US President Joe Biden for his part once again warned his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin this Saturday against the use of chemical or nuclear weapons in the conflict with kyiv.
See as well : Ukraine: a mass grave discovered in Izium
5:30 UT. Czech EU Presidency calls for special court for Izium
The Czech EU Presidency on Saturday called for the creation of a special international tribunal after the discovery of hundreds of bodies buried near Izium, a town taken over from the Russians in the east of the country. “In the 21st century, such attacks against the civilian population are unthinkable and heinous“Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, said on Twitter on Saturday.I call for the rapid establishment of a special international tribunal“.
I call for the speedy establishment of a special international tribunal that will prosecute the crime of aggression.
— Jan Lipavský (@JanLipavsky) September 17, 2022
Ukrainian authorities reported on Friday that “450 bodies of civilians bearing traces of violent death and torture“buried in a wood on the outskirts of Izioum.
“We know that some were killed (shot), others died from artillery fire, trauma from mine explosions. Some died in airstrikes” and “many bodies have not yet been identified“, explained Sergiï Botvinov, a person in charge for the regional police force. In an address, the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Saturday evening that “the exhumation process continues” and “new evidence of torture has been found“.
See as well : Ukraine: Ukrainian villages liberated but left in ruins by the Russians