Russia is accused of preparing to bomb southeast Ukraine, adding shocking photos of Bucha

As stated earlier, the Russian military is pushing its forces into eastern Ukraine to gain control of the breakaway Donbass region, the neighboring country’s industrial heartland. The move comes after Russian troops withdrew from towns around the capital Kiev.

A local woman waves to Ukrainian soldiers in Chernihiv, Ukraine. Photo: Reuters

AP quoted a statement on Facebook of the Army General Staff Ukraine On April 5, Russian forces were focused on capturing the cities of Popasna and Rubizhne in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of the Donbass, as well as the port city of Mariupol on the Black Sea coast. Ukrainian authorities say access to Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city in the east, has been blocked.

According to Reuters, the British Ministry of Defense has released its latest intelligence report, which confirms that Ukrainian forces have regained control of a key northern plain, forcing Russian troops to withdraw from areas around the city of Chernihiv. and north of the capital Kiev.

Low-level skirmishes are likely to continue in some areas to be recaptured, but tend to ease this week as the rest of the Russian troops withdraw, the report said. Many of the retreating Russian units will likely need substantial resupply and refurbishment before redeploying operations to the east of the neighboring country.

A US defense official also cited US intelligence as saying that about two-thirds of the Russian troops around Kiev have left and they are either in Belarus or on their way there.

Controversy over evidence of civilians being murdered in Bucha

New satellite images provided by space technology firm Maxar show that the bodies of civilians killed in Bucha, a town 37km northwest of Kiev, have been lying on the roadway for weeks, including the moment. this place is under the control of Russian forces. The New York Times first published these images on April 4.

According to Maxar, satellite images show bodies on the street in the southern town of Bucha, northwest of the capital Kiev, since at least March 18.

Maxar confirmed that the objects seen on the road in the satellite images match the locations of road bodies seen on the streets of Bucha in recently released videos.

Previously, according to RT, pictures and videos of Bucha, published by Ukrainian media and Western news agencies last weekend, showed many bodies in civilian clothes scattered on one. road. Some of the victims died with their hands tied behind their backs, while others wore white armbands, characteristic of civilians in Russian-controlled areas.

Volunteers collect the bodies of civilians killed in Bucha on April 4. Photo: AP

Kiev and Western governments, including the US, UK, France and Canada, have blamed Moscow for the deaths in Bucha and have warned of further sanctions against Russia. US President Joe Biden even demanded a trial Russian President Putin about war crimes.

Ukrainian soldiers inspecting a severely damaged neighborhood in Bucha April 4. Photo: CNN

However, the Russian Defense Ministry and the Kremlin flatly denied the accusations of Russian soldiers killing civilians in Bucha, and countered the above images and videos as a production of Ukraine to blame Moscow. . Vyacheslav Volodin, Speaker of the Russian lower house of parliament on April 5 described the Bucha incident as “a provocation aimed at discrediting Russiaof which Washington and Brussels are the screenwriters and directors, and Kiev is the actors”.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for an independent investigation into the incident.

President of Ukraine addresses the United Nations

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is scheduled to give an online video address to the United Nations Security Council on April 5 about the ongoing conflict in the country as well as the Bucha incident.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Photo: CNN

On April 4, Mr. Zelensky visited residential areas in Bucha and talked with surviving residents who were queuing for bread relief. In a video message later, he warned that the civilian death toll in Borodyanka and other Ukrainian cities that Kiev has re-controlled could be even higher than in Bucha.

Ukraine will join the European Union (EU) and the International Criminal Court to identify Russian gunmen involved in any killing of civilians, the president said.

Before Zelensky’s address to the Security Council, the United Nations’ most powerful body is expected to hear reports from Secretary-General Guterres, political officer Rosemary DiCarlo and the head of the human rights agency, AP reported. United Nations Martin Griffiths, who is trying to arrange a ceasefire in the Eastern European country. Griffiths met Russian officials in Moscow on April 4 and is expected to travel to Ukraine later.

Tuan Anh

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