Moscow, Europe Brief News – Amnesty International issued a new report, documenting war crimes in Ukraine.
The report documented “wilful killings of civilians” by Russian forces when they occupied an area northeast of Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, in February and March.
Civilians have also suffered abuse such as “reckless shootings and torture” at the hands of Russian forces in the early stages of Russia’s invasion, the rights group said in a report published on Friday.
“These are not isolated incidents. These are very much part of a pattern wherever Russian forces were in control of a town or a village,” Donatella Rovera, Amnesty’s senior crisis response adviser, told a news conference in Kyiv.
Russia, which calls the invasion it launched on February 24 a “special operation”, denies its forces committed war crimes.
Kyiv and its Western backers say Russia’s claim that fascism is rampant in Ukraine is a false pretext for an unprovoked war of aggression.
Ukrainian authorities say they are investigating more than 9,000 potential war crimes by Russian troops. The International Criminal Court is also looking into alleged war crimes.
Amnesty is the latest human rights group to document alleged war crimes committed by Russian forces when they occupied an area northwest of Kyiv, including the town of Bucha, where Ukrainian authorities say more than 400 civilians were killed.
