On Sunday, Germany’s Foreign Minister affirmed that Russia must pay for its “war crimes” committed in the Ukrainian town of Bucha just outside the capital through more severe sanctions, denouncing the violence of President Vladimir Putin.
At the end of a month-long occupation by Russia, 300 residents of Bucha were killed, according to the mayor.
On the streets, victims were seen lying in mass graves, Africa Today News, New York confirmed.
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“The images from Bucha are unbearable, Putin’s uninhibited violence is extinguishing innocent families and knows no boundaries.
“Those responsible for these war crimes must be made accountable. We will tighten the sanctions against Russia and will assist Ukraine even more in defending itself, ” wrote Annalena Baerbock on Twitter.
In what it calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine, the Russian government had earlier denied targeting civilians and denying allegations of war crimes.
The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called on Sunday for independent documentation of what he described as atrocities to be allowed by international organisations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
In addition, Scholz urged Russia to agree to a ceasefire and end this, “terrible, meaningless and unjustifiable war”.
German Economy Minister Robert Habeck informed the German newspaper Bild that Germany and partners in the European Union were preparing sanctions together.
EU Economic Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said on Saturday that the bloc is seeking to impose new sanctions on Russia, but any additional measures would not affect the energy sector.
Germany has so far resisted calls to impose an energy embargo on Russia on the grounds that its economy and other European countries are still too dependent on Russian imports.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK