Signs of massacre in Bucha spark calls for war-crime probes

Signs of massacre in Bucha spark calls for war-crime probes

Bucha killings, mass graves spark calls for war crime probes in Ukraine - The Washington Post

Bucha’s mayor, Anatoly Fedoruk,told The Washington Postthatabout 270 residents had been buried in two mass graves, and he estimated that 40 people were lying dead in the streets. Some, he said, had been bound and executed — shot in the back of the head.

Rape as a weapon: huge scale of sexual violence endured in Ukraine emerges

Rape as a weapon: huge scale of sexual violence endured in Ukraine emerges | Ukraine | The Guardian

Women across Ukraine are grappling with the threat of rape as a weapon of war as growing evidence of sexual violence emerges from areas retaken from retreating Russian forces.

The world was horrified on Sunday by a picture taken by the photographer Mikhail Palinchak on a highway 20km outside the capital, Kyiv, in which the bodies of one man and three women were piled under a blanket. The women were naked and their bodies had been partially burned, the photographer said.

The harrowing image adds to a mounting body of evidence that summary executions, rape and torture have been used against civilians in areas under Russian control since the Kremlin launched the invasion of its neighbour on 24 February.

U.S. weighs tougher Russia sanctions after evidence of Bucha killings

U.S. weighs new Russia sanctions after evidence of massacre in Bucha - The Washington Post

Biden administration officials have discussed intensifying their sanctions campaign against Russia as evidence emergesof the apparent execution of civiliansin a suburb near Kyiv, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Saw some of the photos today confirming some of these claims. Horrendous. This is crazy.

Putin is a madman.

Absolutely inexcusable. Mass executions? Rape? Mining dead bodies?

Read the article and watched the video and immediately wondered if this is the work of the folks from Chechnya or the mercenary group that worked in Syria (Wagner Group). Maybe even some Belarus soldiers, who have also committed some pretty terrible acts.

Putin has no shortage of contemptible sources to draw from.

With that said, given the attitude of the regular Russian army, I find it hard to believe they'd do things like this. This seems like something more on par with a specialist outfit, like the German SS in WWII.

I watched a video today with subtitles where Russian people were okay with this. And one of them said Poland should be next.

What was the age of these people? Genuinely curious of they were interviewing the "FOX News" demographic (except Russian, of course) or if it was a spread of ages.

In either case, wow. Can't believe they are OK with this, I guess nationalism is strong in Russia.

Spread of ages. A few old. Many young. Said the land belonged to Russia and Putin would make things better. That came from the younger demographic by the way.

@LJS9502_basic: Reading into this more, it seems like a fairly widespread thing going on, so I might have been wrong in my assumption that this is only a specialist group doing this. Might be just a general order as they retreat to kill fighting age civilians that sort of escalated into scorched earth.

In either case, Russia is clearly committing atrocities.

Not sure if I support US involvement at this point but I wouldn't blame us or Europe if they got involved at least defensively.

I know it’s cliche at this point but seeing this in 2022 is really disheartening

Yeah I don't want to see WW3 but this really needs to end. It's terrible and Putin is definitely a war criminal.

Right? Cold War has been over for like 30+ years, yet it feels like the same people are still in charge, failing upwards and making the same mistakes.

As long as people continue clinging to the past, we will see our mistakes be repeated.

History is something to learn from, not emulate. And I honestly think Russia is hurting itself with actions like this.

Russia is. Unfortunately too many innocent people are suffering from their actions.

Look at how the Reds acted when they came into Germany during the end of WWII. As such I'm not surprised over these claims.

@mrbojangles25: this is not surprising. Its the reason why the media is so powerful, its ability to brainwash people is amazing, and its also why the rich always scramble over themselves to purchase the MSM at the first opportunity. Look at all the right wings on this board, and even the left wings that parrot the MSM line.

At this point I would call Russia's bluff and step up with the military support. This is intolerable. Not just the massacres but the relentless daily bombardment of civilian targets.

The Russian army is weak. Of course they're going to do things like this.

I almost ignored the news thinking this is about the same stuff we know about them hitting civilian targets from afar with indirect fire but my gosh when I overheard the details when I had the news on there was no I was desensitized enough to hear that - executions of restrained people, or gunning down women and children then running their bodies with tanks, or raping then murdering women. Sick shit. It's like Nanking out there.

Yeah but the Germans were invaders and mass murderers; wrong as it was, the Russians likely thought they were entitled to mistreat Germans.

Ukrainians? These are friends, neighbors, some relatives. They came as liberators, not conquerors (not my belief, just what the Russian propoganda says).

I mean a lot of bad shit has been done in the name of nationalism, not saying I don't believe it, I'm just a little surprised is all. Especially based on what I've heard Russian troops saying in the initial invasion.

Yeah, this.

Very true.

@mrbojangles25: Just think. Putin is almost 70 years old! I’m 29, I’m gonna assume your either slightly younger than me or older; but no older than 45.

When I hear stories about these Russian bombings killing 34+ people or hundreds getting killed in a massacre and when I hear that most of those people are young, it just strikes me as profoundly messed up.

So a 70 year old gets to snuff out people in mass, women and children. So with each bombing that’s like 34+ people that would have been here for DECADES but won’t get a chance to age and mature because of an invasion by a 70 year old.

If I had died as a child, or hell even 3 years ago I feel it would have been a disservice to myself because I’ve learned the value and preciousness of my life and really appreciate all my experiences.

Putin has outlived you or I two or three times now and he is still at a point in his life where he can snuff people out in mass.

Just think, when your a grandparent; how much of a monster would you have to be to actually be responsible for the death of children.

Let's not pretend that it's not the 18-30 year old Russians who are doing the actual killing with the support of at least 2/3 of the population (including the young people). Without them, Putin would not be able kill anyone.

The depravity humans can stoop too under the correct climate truly is depressing.

The Russians gave as good as they got and I'd say maybe even better. What they dealt out was retribution and while it was understandable, it never stopped with just WWII Germany. The way they treated East Germany along with its (Russia) satellite states was deplorable let alone their own people. We can talk day and in great depth about the atrocities committed against its own (look at The Polygon) so when I see what they have done against civilians, I couldn't be any less surprised.

biden has no leg to stand on, calling putin a war criminal. Otherwise he'd have to call Bush a war criminal. I just checked the numbers and something like 300,000 iraqi civilians died in the iraq war, which is far far far more than the number of ukranian deaths. This is a low estimate too. Many sources say its high as 500,000 civilian casualties. Biden saying this is just nonsense. At least we know Trump wouldn't be acting like a hypocrite.

...aaand like clockwork, Mr. Musk the con artist has purchased 10% of twitter.

really? Elon shits on twitter for censoring speech, now he owns the most shares of it??

Maybe he will have pull to fix the platform. If that's what he's trying to do, would be a boss move.

yes, Musk Buys 9.2% of twitter. There definitely needs to be some changes at twitter. Them shutting down the hunter biden laptop stuff which they called a conspiracy theory is a big time slap in the face to free speech and frankly a disgrace.

There were other stuff that really were russian op bots, and real conspiracy theories, like that nonsense from alex jones calling sandy hook fake. But they really painted these things with too broad a brush and censored legitimate news. Someone like Musk stepping in, and hopefully making some changes is a good thing.

Then again, hes a con artist, so who knows what will happen.

We're about 6 weeks into the invasion and according to the UN, there are 1.5K dead civilians. The US had killed 7.5K civilians within the same time frame in Iraq.

yep...and im not a fan of russia or what they're doing, but biden standing there and calling putin a war criminal is pretty much the height of hypocritical BS.

Hahahahahaha, oh man. The length these Trump cultists go to convince themselves of this dogsh*t is hilarious. Trump's position on ANY topic changes with the wind.

Got to give credit to Biden for calling him for what he is. Which should be obvious but very few are willing to say it.

Got to give credit to Biden for calling him for what he is. Which should be obvious but very few are willing to say it.

As a representative of a country that has meddled in international affairs for decades and committed war crimes, torture, and unjust conflict? Sure.

As an individual president, I'd say he has done more to lessen what harm the US does abroad than any president in recent history.

Bush led us to two unjust wars, one of which was the longest running war in US history. Obama increased drone strikes to record levels. Trump didn't do shit to make things better.

Biden got the US out of Afghanistan and has reduced drone strikes to an all-time low. Objectively speaking he is the least hypocritical president for decades when it comes to "war crimes."

Also, at the risk of splitting hairs, there is a big difference between collateral damage (i.e. civilians getting caught in combat zones, crossfire, within the radius of a bomb explosion targeting hostile forces, etc)....

....versus binding and torturing and executing civilians.

I hate to be "that guy" but we don't live in an ideal world. Civilians die in war zones. That doesn't mean you should intentionally target them, and if you do, you should be punished for it. There's nothing hypocritical about what Biden is doing.

False equivalency. Russia is deliberately targeting civilians. The US does not. Collateral damage occurs but let's not equate that with what Russia is doing.

those indiscriminate bombings resulted in civilian loss in iraq, and same in ukraine. What makes iraq collateral damage, and ukraine war crimes? Just from the numbers, it looks like the russians are being more careful than we were.

Also lol @ biden pulling us out...it was TRUMP who pulled us out. He even scheduled the pull out of afghanistan in may, but biden had to extend it to august. He ended up getting pie in his face though. Trump was a real diplomat, and he was the one who started pulling us out of all these expensive and pointless wars. You should give credit where credit is due.

Biden is a hypocrite. Trump would never stand up there and call putin a war criminal, because it would make him look like an idiot. I mean do you know how many times Trump bashed the hell out of bush and their family? They got bashed so bad, I doubt another bush will ever be president.

@blaznwiipspman1: it's a really tough argument to make because you'd be right to argue, from a moral standpoint, that no killing of civilians is the only right way to go about it.

But as I said, it's not an ideal world; civilians die in war.

The point I am making is that there is a big difference between civilians dying in an active warzone due to being in an active warzone with bullets and bombs exploding everywhere...

....and actively targeting civilians to kill. Raping civilians. Digging a mass grave for civilians. Etc.

The former is an ugly fact of war, the latter is a war crime.

Again, not really enjoying making the argument, but I think it is pretty clear.

*Edit: some definitions:

Collateral damage is the incidental or unintentional injury or damage caused to persons or objects that may not be lawful military targets in the circumstances ruling at the time.Such damage is not unlawful so long as it is not excessive in light of the overall military advantage anticipated from the attack

And war crimes are:

Wilful killing

Torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments;

Wilfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health;

Extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly;

Compelling a prisoner of war or other protected person to serve in the forces of a hostile Power;

Wilfully depriving a prisoner of war or other protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial;

Unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement;

Taking of hostages.

This is according to UN.

So, to sum up: collateral damage is not unlawful, war crimes are. Again, hate making this argument, it's really unpleasant, and I am not advocating for civilian death. Just saying there's a difference.

@LJS9502_basic: LOL. American exceptionalism at its finest. Most of the Arab world sees shock and awe as terrorism by another name, and for good reason. Most casualties from the initial invasion were civilian. And in case you forgot, we invaded Iraq under false pretense. We had no business bombing anyone.

to be honest, it sounds like there were as many russian casualties in this war, as there were ukranian casualties. This was all because of the proxy war that the west played. And when casualties start to pile up, soldiers start becoming more brutal. I doubt it was something the generals or putin condoned either, but as you said its war and war isn't pretty.

If you believe some of our own soldiers didn't go on a rampage when their friends were killed by the terrorists and insurgents, then i don't know what to tell you.

Its a dumb argument to make overall. If putin is a war criminal, then so is bush, thats pretty much how I see it.

we both know Trump wouldn't stand there and call putin a war criminal...it would just make him look like an idiot, and trump is a lot smarter than that. Sleepy Joe looks and sounds like hes deranged. Either that, or he needs to fire his speech writer.

truinanashabadepressure and batacaf care!

Nuance eludes you.

Thank god we left Afghanistan.

Speaking of Putin's good old pal,

Trump praises ‘genius’ Putin for moving troops to eastern Ukraine | Donald Trump | The Guardian

Genius of rape and genocide?

Republicans squirm as Trump presses Putin for dirt on Bidens (nbcnews.com)

Maybe his buddy will give him some political aid again.

No, he would sit there and lick his boots....while saying he's 'pro freedom' and 'pro democracy'....."Support Ukraine!". You know, the same guy that tried to overturn election results. The guy is a walking, talking, lying, hypocrite.

"He's a Christian that pays off porn stars while his wife is pregnant!"

There's two things you can't take away from trumpanzees. The desire to betray their own country and unshakable urge to spew Kremlin propaganda.

Whataboutism is irrelevant here.

The War on Terror was a massive mistake. But whatever war crimes the US commited should not be used to excuse or take away from the fact that Russia is commiting war crimes now. And have been doing stuff like this for the past 20 years or so.

Dmitry Medvedev, former president of Russia, just threatened rest of the Europe with war

"If this continues, it will be fitting, as I wrote back on 26th February - to slam shut the door on Western embassies," Medvedev said. "It will be cheaper for everyone. And then we will end up just looking at each other in no other way than through gunsights."

^^^^^

This. It's very telling when the usuals pile on in and try to equivocate while dodging the issue and topic entirely.

This has nothing to do with Trump. Non-interventionism and avoiding foreign entanglements is something conducive with the foundation of this country. It's something that helped us to become a great power; minding our own business. Calling everything that strays from the narrative unpatriotic or "Russia propaganda" is just as reductive and stupid as Bush saying "you're either with us or with the terrorists". Perhaps even more so. At least the terrorists attacked us.

^ Common sense. Unfortunately this is a loop argument on social media etc... from Russian defenders. Grasping at anything and everything.

We're not fighting. Also praising Putin is not staying neutral.