Evidence of war crimes has mounted daily since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion to “denazify” Ukraine. Russian forces carrying out Putin’s orders targeted civilian areas and bombed clearly marked shelters. Convoys of non-combatants fleeing the fighting were hit with artillery — even after Russia had agreed to honor a safety corridor so refugees could leave. Video footage of civilian apartment buildings being blasted by tank fire eliminated any question of civilians merely being victims of collateral damage.
Now comes the hardcore evidence from the formerly Russian-occupied town of Bucha of people shot dead with their hands tied behind their backs. Even in the unlikely event that the dead were Ukrainian fighters taken prisoner by Russian troops, the execution-style killings would still constitute war crimes. Russia is a signatory to the Geneva Conventions, even though Putin in 2019 ordained that his country would no longer recognize protocols requiring the protection of non-combatants in international conflicts.
That’s no excuse for the atrocities occurring as Russian troops withdraw from Ukrainian urban centers. International investigators have a mountainous trove of photos, videos and other evidence distributed worldwide on television news and social media.
