Boris Johnson has condemned Russia’s ‘despicable attacks’ on Ukrainians living in Bucha and Irpin as images emerged of a van with ‘children’ written on it riddled with bullet holes and of dead civilians with their ‘hands tied behind their backs and shot in the head’.
The Prime Minister accused Vladimir Putin and his army of committing war crimes in Ukraine by carrying out ‘despicable attacks against innocent civilians’.
An adviser to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky earlier said dead civilians had been found on the streets of the small city of Bucha and the Kyiv suburb of Irpin, in what he said resembled a ‘horror movie’.
The UK, France and Germany, along with the NATO Secretary General, on Sunday night called for an international probe to be opened into allegations of Russian ‘war crimes’.
On Sunday evening, Mr Johnson said the UK government was stepping up sanctions and military support, as well as providing additional support for those in need on the ground.
His comments come as former heavyweight champion boxer Wladimir Klitschko visited Bucha to accuse Putin of ‘genocide’ after mass graves filled with civilian corpses were found after Russian troops left the Kyiv suburb.
Yesterday it was claimed that mass graves were discovered on the outskirts of Kyiv amid fears that brutal Russian troops are executing civilians as they retreated.
The ex-boxer and brother to the mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko, took to Twitter to accuse the Russian regime of genocide.
He used his platform to show the corpse of a civilian with his hands tied behind his back to show the devastating trail of destruction that Russian troops have left in the Kyiv Oblast after retreating from the north of Ukraine.
He said: ‘What happened here and what’s happening all over Ukraine is not a special operation. This is not military objects. This is civilians that have been shot in the head with tied hands behind their back.
‘This is a genocide of the Ukrainian population and that’s exactly what the Russian regime, Putin’s regime, the Russian army is doing.
‘Killing the civilians with tied hands behind their back and with a shot in the head.’
Russia’s defence ministry has denied accusations of Russian troops killing civilians in Bucha.
The Associated Press said its journalists saw the bodies of at least 21 people in various spots around Bucha.
One group of nine, all in civilian clothes, were scattered around a site that residents said Russian troops used as a base. They appeared to have been killed at close range. At least two had their hands tied behind their backs, one was shot in the head, another’s legs were bound, the journalists said.
Ukraine’s prosecutor general Iryna Venediktova said the bodies of 410 civilians have been removed from the Kyiv area towns that were recently retaken from Russian forces.
Charles Michel, president of the European Council, said further EU sanctions against Russians and support for Ukrainians are ‘on their way’ after the images were published.
In a tweet, he added: ‘Shocked by haunting images of atrocities committed by Russian army in Kyiv liberated region
‘EU is assisting Ukraine & NGO’s in gathering of necessary evidence for pursuit in international courts.’
**WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT**
In a statement, Mr Johnson said the UK is ‘stepping up’ its sanctions and military support, and ‘bolstering’ humanitarian help for those on the ground.
He said: ‘Russia’s despicable attacks against innocent civilians in Irpin and Bucha are yet more evidence that Putin and his army are committing war crimes in Ukraine.
‘No denial or disinformation from the Kremlin can hide what we all know to be the truth – Putin is desperate, his invasion is failing, and Ukraine’s resolve has never been stronger.
‘I will do everything in my power to starve Putin’s war machine. We are stepping up our sanctions and military support, as well as bolstering our humanitarian support package to help those in need on the ground.
‘The UK has been at the forefront of supporting the international Criminal Court’s investigation into atrocities committed in Ukraine. The Justice Secretary has authorised additional financial support and the deployment of specialist investigators – we will not rest until justice is served.’
It is understood this refers to support for the ICC’s investigation announced last week.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said on March 24 that an additional £1 million in funding would be provided, and soldiers with military expertise would be assigned to the ICC to help uncover evidence.
Scotland Yard’s War Crimes Team would also be mobilised to assist the investigation, it added.
Other European leaders also condemned the reported attacks on Ukranian civilians in response to images of bodies in the streets and some of the dead with their hands tied behind their backs.
Leaders in France, Germany, Italy, Greece, Czech Republic and Poland expressed outrage at the images.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala called the images ‘horrifying’ and said Russia has been committing war crimes.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said international organizations should be given access to the areas to independently document the atrocities.
French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said his country will work with Ukrainian authorities and the International Criminal Court ‘to ensure these acts don’t go unpunished’.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the graphic images coming out of Bucha, Ukraine, after Russian troops withdrew show ‘a brutality against civilians we haven’t seen in Europe for decades’.
He told CNN’s State of the Union that ‘it’s absolutely unacceptable that civilians are targeted and killed’ and that it’s Russian President Vladimir Putin’s responsibility to stop the war.