The United States and Europe were planning new sanctions on Tuesday to punish Moscow over civilian killings in Ukraine, and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned more deaths were likely to be uncovered in areas seized from Russian invaders.
Russian forces withdrew from towns north of the capital Kyiv last week as it turns its assault to Ukraine’s south and east. Ukrainian troops recaptured towns devastated by nearly six weeks of war, including Bucha, where dead civilians lined the streets.
Searing images of a mass grave in Bucha and the bound bodies of people shot at close range drew an international outcry on Monday. U.S. President Joe Biden called for a war crimes trial against Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, with Washington, Germany and France promising new sanctions against Moscow.
Russia denied any accusations related to the murder of civilians and said it would present “empirical evidence” to a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday proving its forces were not involved.
In an early morning video address, Zelenskiy said he would also address the Security Council on Tuesday as he builds support for an investigation into Bucha.
“And this is only one town. One of many Ukrainian communities which the Russian forces managed to capture,” Zelenskiy said. “Now, there is information that in Borodyanka and some other liberated Ukrainian towns, the number of casualties of the occupiers may be even much higher,” he added, referring to a town 25 km (16 miles) west of Bucha.
