DUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has compared the actions of the Russian occupiers in his country to the Nazi atrocities of World War II. In a video message distributed in Kiev on Saturday, Selenskyj said that under the Russian occupation there were brutal tortures, deportations, burned cities, grassroots hatred and nothing alive. Unlike the Nazis, the Russians don’t make soap out of murdered Ukrainians — and they don’t make lamps out of their skin. “But the principle is the same,” said the head of state after more than six months of war.
“We will determine the identities of all those who tortured and abused, who brought these atrocities from Russia to the territory of Ukraine,” the 44-year-old said. As they fled, the invaders left torture devices behind.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities have released photos they claim show torture chambers and equipment. More than a dozen torture chambers have now been discovered in different cities of the Kharkiv-liberated region, he said. “Torture was a widespread practice in the occupied territory.”
According to Zelenskyj, people were tortured with wires and electric shocks. For example, a torture chamber with electric torture devices was discovered at a train station in Kozatsa Lopan. New evidence of torture was also found in bodies found in a forest near the town of Izyum. Exhumation of the dead in the “mass grave” continued Saturday, Zelenskyy said.
Graves with more than 440 corpses have been found at Izyum. According to initial findings, people were said to have died in heavy Russian shelling of the city in late March.
In late March, after Russian troops withdrew, hundreds of dead civilians – some tortured and handcuffed – were found in the Kiev suburb of Bucha. Since then, Bucha has been considered a symbol of the most serious war crimes in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
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11:38 am – Ukraine: After the deal, 165 ships with agricultural products have left the port.
According to Ukrainian sources, 165 ships with 3.7 million tons of agricultural products have left the country since the grain deal brokered by Turkey and the UN in July. Another ten ships carrying 169,000 tons of agricultural products will leave on Sunday, the Infrastructure Ministry in Kyiv said.
Before the war, Ukraine exported six million tons of grain a month. According to the ministry, Ukrainian Black Sea ports are capable of loading 100 to 150 cargo ships per month.
10:24 am – Reports of continued shelling after Russia withdraws Kharkiv region
Ukrainian sources say shelling continues in the region after Russian troops withdrew from the Kharkiv region a week ago. The enemy fired heavily on the liberated towns of Izyum and Chuhuiv, destroying residential and commercial buildings, gas stations and production facilities, Ukrainian regional governor Oleh Sinegubov said in his blog on the Telegram news service. Eleven-year-old girl killed in shelling in Chuhuiv. While driving in the area, two women were critically injured when they were hit by a tank shell.
Earlier in the evening, Sinekupov also reported that about 60 bodies had been recovered from a mass grave in a forest near the town of Isium. So most women and men are civilians. Among the dead were many Ukrainian soldiers. Most died violent deaths, he said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said some of the dead also showed signs of torture. The exhumation of the dead should continue on Sunday. The United Nations also wants to visit the site to help determine the exact causes of death.
08:33 – Ukraine reports casualties and damage from Russian attacks
According to Ukrainian reports, Russian attacks in the east and south of the country killed several people and damaged buildings and utilities. The governor of the eastern Ukraine region announced on Sunday that five civilians had been killed in Donetsk on Sunday. In Nikopol, in the south of the country, several dozen houses were damaged, including gas and electricity lines and multi-storey buildings, according to regional authorities.
08:17 – Great Britain – Russian attacks are intended to undermine morale
According to British intelligence services, Russia has significantly increased its attacks on civilian Ukrainian targets with long-range missiles over the past seven days. This includes, for example, an attack on a dam in the central Ukrainian industrial city of Kryvyi Rih, according to the British Ministry of Defense’s daily briefing on Sunday. These targets do not provide immediate military gain.
Given the backlash on the front lines, Moscow will continue to use such attacks to undermine the morale of the Ukrainian people and their government.
Since Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine began in late February, the British Ministry of Defense has issued daily updates on the progress of the war, citing intelligence. By doing so, the British government wants to counter the Russian portrayal and keep allies in line. Moscow accuses London of a disinformation campaign targeting London.
6:00 am – “Don’t do it” – Biden warns Putin against using nuclear weapons
US President Joe Biden has warned Russian President Vladimir Putin against using tactical nuclear or chemical weapons in the wake of the setback in Ukraine. “Don’t do that, don’t do that, don’t do that. It will change the face of warfare since World War II,” Biden said in an interview with CBS television that aired Saturday night.
According to Biden, Russia will make itself an outsider more than ever.
The Russian president has said he will change course if Moscow continues to pressure his troops. In a speech about the February invasion of Ukraine, Putin hinted that nuclear weapons could be used if the West intervenes in what Russians officially call “special military operations” in the war in Ukraine.
As a result of the current developments in Ukraine, nationalists in Russia are pressuring Putin to regain the initiative.
4:18 am – EPP boss Weber calls for tougher action against Russia
European People’s Party (EPP) leader Manfred Weber is calling for tougher action against Russia after more mass graves were discovered in Ukraine. According to the initial report, “Russia is moving further and further away from the value-based world community,” CSU Vice President Funke told the media group’s newspapers. “We must now implement the sanctions firmly. In addition, main battle tanks must finally be delivered in a European network,” says Weber. In the preliminary statement, Weber also makes it clear that he sees the prosecution of atrocities in Ukraine as a European task.
01:53 – The Defense Secretary stands behind the Inspector General
Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht, SPD, supports the statements of Inspector General Eberhard Zorn, who is wary of possible Russian aggression expansion and the chances of success of a Ukrainian counterattack. “I agree that Putin is unpredictable. Putin has attacked neighbors and questioned the territorial integrity of other states,” Lambrecht said in an interview with the Funke media group’s newspapers, according to initial reports. After more graves were discovered in Ukraine, Lambrecht called on the United Nations to legally address war crimes in an interview. “You must be granted access as soon as possible to protect the evidence. Those responsible for war crimes must be brought to justice,” Lambrecht told the Funke media group.
1:03 am – Lambrecht to clarify possible war crimes
Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht called for investigations into possible war crimes after hundreds of bodies were found in the Ukrainian city of Izyum. “These heinous crimes must be eradicated – by the United Nations,” SPD politician Funke told newspapers from the media group. The UN should be given permission to secure the evidence as soon as possible. “Those responsible for war crimes must be brought to justice,” Lambrecht demanded.
12:34 am – Söder and Weil want a rescue package for public utilities
The prime ministers of Bavaria and Lower Saxony, Markus Soder, CSU, and Stefan Weil, SPD, are proposing a rescue package for municipal utilities threatened by the energy crisis. “They have to pay more and more for energy purchases, but these prices can only be passed with delay and fear of payment defaults. The central government’s protection shield for large companies should be extended to public utilities,” Weil said, according to a report previously published by “Bild am Sonntag”.
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