Bodies strewn across the street. Victims lying in mass graves. Widespread hunger. Scenes of total destruction. To Grozny, Chechnya and Aleppo, Syria, we can now add Bucha, Ukraine.
As horrific as these crimes are, as shocking as the images emanating out of Bucha, Mariupol, Kharkiv, Irpin and elsewhere in the country, we cannot pretend to be surprised. This is what Vladimir Putin does. This is how he wages war.
Bucha underlines the essentialness of Western unity in response to this evil. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said that more sanctions would be imposed on the Kremlin in short order. His defence minister has suggested the EU should consider banning imports of Russian gas, a move it has thus far resisted. Further sanctions are critical.
Nato must continue also to supply defensive weaponry to Ukraine to enable its forces not only to resist Russian aggression but to carry on recapturing territory. What further horrors will they find as they do?
Britain has rightly moved quickly in setting up war crimes processes in anticipation of such eventualities. Last month, Justice Secretary Dominic Raabvisited the International Criminal Court in The Hague to offer “technical support in bringing those responsible for war crimes in Ukraine to justice”. It now seems clear that such an investigation will be necessary.
War crime procedures can be brought to bear not only on Putin, but on his generals and individual soldiers. As further atrocities are revealed, the cries for a response from the international community will only grow louder.
