Western world leaders threatened Moscow with even more crippling economic sanctions, including a total lockout of Russia’s vital energy industry, after disturbing images of tortured civilian corpses emerged Monday in the aftermath of an attack on the Kyiv suburb of Bucha.
According to the Washington Examiner, the city was completely razed and strewn with the corpses of civilians on Sunday.
The New York Times reported that a man in a blue fleece was found slumped over the steering wheel of a wrecked car at an intersection, and another man was discovered lying on his back, with his twisted green bicycle next to him, a large bullet hole in his head.
Civilian corpses have been found dropped down manholes and in mass graves, according to The Wall Street Journal, many with their wrists bound and other signs of torture.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy toured the area on Monday and was noticeably moved while surveying the slaughter. He reportedly said he found it "very difficult to talk when you see what they've done here."
More than 410 executed civilians have been found, in what Ukrainian authorities have termed a "planned genocide," the Examiner reports.
"I want every mother of every Russian soldier to see the bodies of the killed people in Bucha, in Irpin, in Hostomel," Zelenskyy reportedly said during an overnight speech.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Monday that the United States and its allies would work to suspend Russia from the U.N. Human Rights Council.
"The images out of Bucha and devastation across Ukraine require us now to match our words with action," she said.
In remarks to reporters Monday, President Joe Biden again called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “war criminal” and said, “he should be held accountable.”
Responding to a question about increasing sanctions, Biden said, “Yes, I’m going to continue to add sanctions.”
The president added that he would release further details at a later time.
Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, tweeted that European Union ambassadors are scheduled to meet Wednesday to discuss another round of sanctions against Russia. A NATO defense meeting is also slated for Wednesday.
The Kremlin accused the West of altering the photos to unfairly punish Russia.
After images of the weekend massacre at Bucha were released, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said the Russian soldiers had committed "acts of genocide," while French President Emmanuel Macron said the images showed “very clear signs of war crimes.”
In his speech, Zelenskyy also targeted the "indecision" of Western leaders who have opposed harsher consequences for Russia and invited the former leaders of Germany and France to come to Ukraine and witness for themselves.
"I invite Ms. [Angela] Merkel and Mr. [Nicolas] Sarkozy to visit Bucha to see what the policy of 14 years of concessions to Russia has led to," Zelenskyy reportedly said.
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