Zelensky accuses Russia of committing “genocide” in Ukraine after Bucha’s horrific images

President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview to air Sunday in the United States that Russian forces are committing “genocide” in Ukraine.

“This is genocide. The elimination of the entire nation and people”said Zelensky to CBS, according to a transcript provided by the network, a day after horrific images of civilian deaths were released in Bucha, a Ukrainian city recaptured from Russian forces.

While the United States and NATO were horrified this Sunday by images of atrocities against civilians in Bucha and warned that the withdrawal of Russian troops from the surroundings of Kyiv it did not imply a withdrawal or an end to the violence.

The general secretary of the NATOJens Stoltenberg called the killings of civilians in Bucha, Ukraine, “horrible” and “unacceptable,” while US diplomat Antony Blinken called them “a punch in the stomach.”

SIGHT: NATO denounces “horrible” and “absolutely unacceptable” acts against civilians in Ukraine

“It is a brutality against civilians that we have not seen in Europe for decades, and it is horrible and absolutely unacceptable,” Stoltenberg told CNN, a day after images of Bucha, a Ukrainian city recovered from Russian forces, were released.

The possible murders of civilians in the surroundings of Kyivthe Ukrainian capital, were confirmed when the Russian army withdrew from the area in the face of fierce resistance from local forces.

AFP reporters saw at least 20 bodies, all in civilian clothes, scattered on a single street in the city of Bucha on Friday. One had his hands tied behind his back with a white cloth and his Ukrainian passport open next to his body.

Bodies lie in a street in Bucha, northwest of kyiv, as Ukraine says Russian forces are making a “rapid withdrawal” from northern areas. (RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP). (RONALDO SCHEMIDT/)

According to a Ukrainian official, 57 bodies were buried in a mass grave in the city on the outskirts of the capital, showing AFP a ditch where the bodies lay.

On his side, the head of US diplomacy considered these actions attributed to Russian troops horrifying: “You can’t help but see these images as a punch in the stomach,” Blinken told CNN.

“This will be the daily reality as long as Russia’s brutality against Ukraine continues,” he added.

On the other hand, the head of the NATO He said he was not “too optimistic” about Russia’s announcements of a withdrawal from the outskirts of kyiv.

“What we see is not a withdrawal, but what we see is that Russia is repositioning its troops”He also told CNN.

“In a way, we should not be too optimistic because the attacks will continue and we are also worried about the possible increase in attacks,” he added.

Source: Elcomercio