Opinion: The Bucha massacre marks grim turning point in Russia’s war
Opinion: The Bucha massacre marks grim turning point in Russia’s war
By Editorial Boar
Yesterday at 4:00 p.m. EDT
Even before this week, Russia’s unjust destruction of Ukraine — the smashing of people’s hopes and dreams along with their homes, hospitals and theaters by indiscriminate shelling and bombs — was a war crime. But its scale grew over the weekend as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s troops retreated from Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv, revealing indelible evidence of the slaughter of innocent civilians: streets littered with the bodies of people shot in the head, their hands bound; and a freshly dug mass grave. The Bucha massacre marks a grim turning point in Russia’s invasion, and the world must respond forcefully.
Russia’s military atrocities in Ukraine have been seen before, in the brutal “zachistka,” or cleansing operations, in Chechnya, which destroyed towns and villages, and the indiscriminate attacks on hospitals in the Syrian city of Aleppo. As in Syria, Russia has agreed to humanitarian corridors for Ukraine’s Mariupol, only to attack them. Until now, the world’s response to these crimes has been weak; now it must not be. Mr. Putin puts his faith in the tyranny of violence. He must be shown that such barbarism will not be tolerated — by identifying and holding to account those who carried out the atrocities in Bucha and all of Ukraine.
Opinion | Bucha, Ukraine, massacre marks turning point in Russia's war - The Washington Post
Opinion: The Bucha massacre marks grim turning point in Russia’s war
By Editorial Boar
Yesterday at 4:00 p.m. EDT
Even before this week, Russia’s unjust destruction of Ukraine — the smashing of people’s hopes and dreams along with their homes, hospitals and theaters by indiscriminate shelling and bombs — was a war crime. But its scale grew over the weekend as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s troops retreated from Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv, revealing indelible evidence of the slaughter of innocent civilians: streets littered with the bodies of people shot in the head, their hands bound; and a freshly dug mass grave. The Bucha massacre marks a grim turning point in Russia’s invasion, and the world must respond forcefully.
Russia’s military atrocities in Ukraine have been seen before, in the brutal “zachistka,” or cleansing operations, in Chechnya, which destroyed towns and villages, and the indiscriminate attacks on hospitals in the Syrian city of Aleppo. As in Syria, Russia has agreed to humanitarian corridors for Ukraine’s Mariupol, only to attack them. Until now, the world’s response to these crimes has been weak; now it must not be. Mr. Putin puts his faith in the tyranny of violence. He must be shown that such barbarism will not be tolerated — by identifying and holding to account those who carried out the atrocities in Bucha and all of Ukraine.
Opinion | Bucha, Ukraine, massacre marks turning point in Russia's war - The Washington Post