11:07
The Ukrainian army in a special statement: Russia is recruiting and deploying another 60,000 reservists. The Ukrainian military statement, released at 6:00 a.m., said that Russia was “deploying secret troops” and that 60,000 reservists had been recruited to fill the gaps created by the army following the losses in the invasion of Ukraine. “The armed forces of the Russian Federation plan to deploy about 60,000 people in this deployment,” the Ukrainian General Staff said in a statement. The Ukrainian General Staff said in a statement that in the last 24 hours, the Donetsk and Luhansk areas had been attacked at least seven times.
10:26
French President Emmanuel Macron has called for new sanctions on Russia in response to what happened in Bucha. The Reuters news agency reported that the president said there were very clear hints that Russia had committed war crimes in Ukraine and that there was room for new sanctions to limit Russia’s power even further.
Concurrent with the international condemnation of the Russian military actions in Bocha, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that photos of the forced civilians shot in the city had been “commissioned” by the US as part of a plot to accuse Russia. “Who are the wizards of provocation? It is clear that the United States and NATO,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zichrova said in an interview with Russian state television last night. She added that Western outcries over images of dead citizens from Ukraine suggest the story is part of a larger plan to tarnish Russia’s reputation. Zichrova did not present any evidence that contradicts the Ukrainian version of events.
09:56
Ukraine reports 410 bodies of civilians found in the area surrounding Kyiv, as part of an investigation into Russia’s possible war crimes in the invasion of the country. Ukrainian authorities have begun to take back control of the Russians who have in recent days begun a withdrawal from the Kyiv regions.
The recently released mayor of Bocha, 37 kilometers from Kiev, announced that 300 civilians had been killed by the Russian army while the area was being controlled by Chechen fighters in Russian service.
So far, Ukrainian investigators have managed to enter only the towns of Bocha, Irpin and Hustomal on Sunday, and have begun gathering evidence about the massacre perpetrated by the Russians. The evidence is not yet substantiated enough to establish war crimes.
Irina Wendiktova, Ukrainian State Attorney, said last night in an official statement: “410 bodies of a murdered civilian were collected from the peripheral territory of Kyiv … 140 of them have already been examined by our prosecutors and other experts. We need to work with witnesses. “The state prosecutor added that the Ukrainian authorities are trying to locate authentic photos and videos as evidence of Russian crimes.” The citizens are so stressed that they are afraid to testify and are unable to speak, “Vendiktova said.
Ukrainian Interior Minister Denis Monstirsky said it was clear hundreds of Ukrainian citizens had been killed, but he did not specify exactly how many because efforts to clear mines from the Kyiv region were still at their peak. “Many locals are still defined as missing. We can not give an exact number, but there are masses of people,” he added.
09:48
In Ukrainian President Volodymyr’s speech tonight videotaped at the U.S. Grammy Awards, he sought support for spreading the story of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Zalansky likened the invasion of Ukraine to a deadly silence that is about to extinguish the dreams and lives of the Ukrainian people.
“Our musician wears heavy body protection instead of a tuxedo. They sing to the wounded in hospitals, even to those who can’t hear them … but the music will break out anyway. Fill the silence with your music, tell our story. Tell the truth about the war on social media “Yours, on TV, support us in any way you can, but not in silence. Then peace will come to all our cities,” Zlansky told the audience at the American Grammys.
06:45
A number of EU member states are calling for further sanctions on Russia, following evidence of war crimes committed by Russian forces in cities and villages they have occupied and have now been liberated in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. The countries call for removing Russia completely from the international payment system SWIFT and adding additional products and technologies to the list of prohibited exports to Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zalansky spoke tonight at the Grammys and repeatedly asked the international community for further help against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Zalansky called the Russian forces “slaughterers” following images of the atrocities released after their withdrawal from the Kyiv region.
Last night, Lithuania announced that it had completely stopped importing gas from Russia and called on European countries to follow suit.