lThere are journalistic works that should be read, applauded and, above all, shared with as many people as possible. Certainly in times of war, when the confrontation also takes place in the field of communication. the large size of New York Times dedicated to the Boutcha massacre is one of them†
In a long article written by Carlotta Gall and enriched with photographs by Daniel Berehulak, the American daily documents the crimes committed in this city northwest of Kiev, where many bodies of civilians found after the withdrawal of Russian troops in early April. “We went to Boutcha, documented dozens of civilian murders, interviewed numerous witnesses and followed investigators there to take inventory of the atrocities committed by the Russians”the newspaper announces, under three full-width photos of corpses, blown up buildings and mass grave.
“Boutcha is a landscape of horrors”further warns the article, whose authors also mention the crimes on a map of Boutcha showing that they were committed throughout the city. “There is evidence that the Russians killed recklessly and at times sadistically, partly out of revenge. †
“They shot my son. I wish it was me”
In particular, the US daily reveals the presence, in addition to armed soldiers, bombs and tanks firing on sight, of snipers everywhere in Boutcha. According to the newspaper, Russian troops had set up a base in a residence behind the city’s main high school. “On March 5, a Russian sniper started firing at anything that moved south of this high school”Write the New York Times†
Like Ivan’s son. “They shot my son. I sat next to him. I wish it was me”says this resident, who had gone for a walk with his son in Yablonska Street (“Apple Street”† After a night of agony, he died early the next morning, leaving behind an 8-year-old son and a one-year-old daughter. His family buried him in the garden: “It is very difficult to bury your child. I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy. †
This Yablonska street, in which Ivan’s son was shot, quickly became the most deadly road for passers-by, notes the New York Times† A man riding a bicycle was also killed there, as shown a video filmed by a drone and shared by the international group of researchers Bellingcat† On March 11 there were seem at least eleven littered with this street and its sidewalks.
” A case [de sévices sexuels] among other things “
After Russian troops withdrew from the Kiev region and northern Ukraine, 66-year-old Volodymyr Shepitko, who had fled with his family in a basement, found his home searched. Soldiers had occupied it — the latter had forced the residents to flee to take possession of the homes near their bases — turning it into a huge garbage can, rubbish and empty beer bottles strewn on the floor.
And in a cellar under the garden shed, his cousin found the body of a woman, the American newspaper reports. “On the floor, with her legs apart, she was wearing a fur coat and nothing else. † She was shot in the head. Torn condom packages, as well as a used condom, were found by police. ” A case [de sévices sexuels] among many others”The Human Rights Commissioner of the Ukrainian Assembly, Lyudmyla Denisova, replied to the newspaper.
According to many residents interviewed by the daily newspaper, “The further the war progressed, the more horrific the mood and behavior of the Russian troops became”† Still according to the testimonies of witnesses found in Boutcha, certain acts of violence took on a cynical dimension, they were intended to terrorize. Russian troops were also particularly suspicious of military-age men, accusing them of being members of the Ukrainian armed forces. Natalya Oleksandrova’s cousin was a victim. According to the statements of the soldiers who kidnapped him, he was interrogated for forty-eight hours, never returned and was found dead in a cellar after the departure of the Russians.
Very large majority of civilians among the dead
Marta Kirmichi, originally from Moldova and in Ukraine for ten years, last spoke with her husband in mid-March. He had left the family home near Chernihiv a month earlier to go to his workplace, a construction site for a new residential complex in Boutcha. During the month of March, he had reached out to his wife twice to tell her that he was still alive. Then nothing.
At the beginning of April, she discovers, together with the rest of the world, the first photos of the killed men, scattered on Yablonska Street, near pallets and building materials, some with their hands tied. mme Kirmichi recognized him immediately. Her husband lay face down. She found some hope after later seeing, in another photo, that he was no longer next to the other bodies. She wants to believe that he was taken to hospital injured, but by mid-April she still had no news about him.
According to New York TimesAbout 360 people were found dead in Boutcha and its immediate vicinity in one weekend. Among them were more than 250 killed by bullets or shrapnel, and were being investigated for war crimes, according to city prosecutor Ruslan Kravchenko.
Many others died of starvation — such as at least six elderly people in an abandoned hospice, the US newspaper noted — of colds, or lack of medicine and doctors. The dead were mostly civilians: Only two members of the Ukrainian army were among those killed in Boutcha, an official at the city’s cemetery said. The authorities have collected several thousand photos and videos of these crimes, posted on a site of the Ukrainian government created for the occasion, warcrimes.gov.ua†
Read the survey New York Times (in English) : “Bucha’s Month of Terror”
