Four civilians were killed while trying to escape by boat from the occupied Kherson region, the BBC reported, citing Ukrainian regional authorities.
The civilian boat was sailing from the village of Pervomaevka when it was attacked about 70 meters from the shore. There were 14 people on board. Two men and a woman died on the spot during the shooting, while a 13-year-old child died later from his injuries. Seven people have been admitted to hospital, two others are unknown. It is unclear whether the 14th civilian in the boat was killed or unharmed.
This is another war crime of the Russian occupation army, which continues to shoot at unarmed civilians, including women and children. Yesterday, the UN General Assembly deprived Russia of membership in the organization’s Human Rights Council because of information about serious and systematic human rights violations related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Intercepted radio reports prove the Russian atrocities in Bucha
German intelligence has intercepted radio reports from the Russian military, which add to the picture of the atrocities committed in Bucha on the outskirts of Kyiv. According to Spiegel magazine, the wiretapped communications discussed the killings of civilians, and individual radio reports may even be linked to specific people in the photos taken after the Russians were withdrawn from the area. For example, a report was documented by a Russian soldier that he and his comrades had killed a man on a bicycle. The photo of the murdered man on the bike traveled around the world.
The atrocities are not accidental
The collected material gives grounds to assume that the massacres in Bucha were not accidental, nor was they the work of individual Russian soldiers who lost control, SPIEGEL reports. Rather, the records show that executions are part of the way the Russian military usually acts and that this is part of their strategy of instilling fear and terror to break the resistance of the population.
Another intercepted radio report revealed that the Russian military had interrogated Ukrainian soldiers and then killed them. It appears that Russian soldiers have discussed these cold-blooded killings in Bucha, the newspaper said. After the withdrawal of Russian troops from the outskirts of Kyiv, photos, videos, and eyewitness accounts of the crimes in Bucha appeared. Ukraine blames Russia for them, while Moscow denies it.
Wagner mercenaries are also involved
From the intelligence data, it can also be concluded that mercenaries from the private army “Wagner” took part in the war crimes in Bucha. It is even possible that they played a leading role, adds SPIEGEL. According to local authorities, about 90 percent of the victims were gunshot wounds. By Wednesday night, the bodies of 320 killed civilians had been found in the city and are being investigated by experts. But their numbers continue to rise as “bodies are found in private properties, in parks or other places where victims may have been buried,” Bucha Mayor Anatoliy Fedoruk told the State News Agency.
