war | Night at a glance: Selenskyj promises justice

It’s been a year since the Russian troops withdrew from Bucha. The victims of Russian war crimes were commemorated on Friday. An overview.

Facing the casualties and destruction caused by Russia’s war of aggression, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged justice for his country. “Justice for our state, for all our people who lost their relatives, their friends, their health, their home and their normal life because of Russian aggression, because of the terror of the occupying forces,” said the Ukrainian President on Friday in his evening speech video address.

Selenskyj had previously commemorated the victims of the short period of Russian occupation in the Kiev suburb of Bucha with international guests. The anniversary of the withdrawal of the Kremlin troops was on Friday. Moldovan President Maia Sandu and the heads of government of Slovakia, Slovenia and Croatia – Eduard Heger, Robert Golob and Andrej Plenkovic – took part in the commemoration.

After their invasion a good 13 months ago, Russian troops captured the small town of Bucha near Kiev in early March 2022. On March 30th they withdrew again. Three days later, published images of the bound bodies of civilians caused international outrage. Bucha is a symbol of Russian war crimes around the world.

In the afternoon, Zelenskyi and his guests held a conference of “United for Justice” (United for Justice), at which Ukraine wants to gather support for the prosecution of Russian war crimes. “And the day will come when the world will hear that justice has been restored to Ukraine,” Zelenskyy announced.

At his meeting with foreign heads of state and government, Zelenskyi reaffirmed his vision of a peaceful solution. First, a representative of Russia – whoever that might be, he doesn’t know – must withdraw all troops from all areas of Ukraine without a fight. “Then the diplomatic format begins,” Zelenskyy was quoted as saying by the Ukrainian media. However, should Ukraine be forced to forcefully expel all Russians, then there would be nothing to talk about in view of the many victims. “Then what should one talk about with such people at all?”

Chancellor Scholz (SPD) said on Twitter that the atrocities in Bucha had shown what Putin’s war meant. “The images burned themselves into me, too.” These crimes should not go unpunished. “That’s why we stand united behind Ukraine. Russia will not win!” EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said Russian soldiers had looted, tortured, raped and murdered. The cold-blooded executions are part of a larger plan to eliminate Ukraine, its independence and democracy.

For Zelenskyy, Russia’s intention to station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus is a sign that the meeting between Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin and China’s head of state Xi Jinping was not crowned with success. “One should have shown Russia a sense of reality, which the country has completely lost under President Putin,” quoted the “Ukrajinska Pravda” Zelenskyj. Putin received Xi in Moscow the previous week. In addition, Belarus’ ruler Alexander Lukashenko has lost all independence, said Zelenskyj. “I don’t think he decides what weapons are on his territory anymore.”

Against the background of high tensions with the West as a result of the Ukraine war, Putin recently announced that he would station tactical nuclear weapons in the neighboring ex-Soviet republic of Belarus. He justified the stationing by saying that the USA had been doing something similar in Europe for years.