Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has claimed that Russian troops have 'cut out the tongues of Ukrainian civilians' amid the ongoing invasion.
Since Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops across the border on 24 February, the actions of Russian forces have been branded by Zelenskyy as 'genocide'.
In a meeting with the UN Security Council today (5 April), Zelenskyy opened up about his trip to Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, and spoke of the atrocities he saw and heard had been committed by Russian troops.
The President has accused Russian forces of slitting the throats of civilians and cutting out civilians' tongues 'because they didn't hear what they wanted to'.
Advert
According to Sky News, he stated: "Some of them were shot on the streets. Others were thrown into the wells. So they die. They are suffering. They were killed in their apartments, houses blown up by grenades.
"Civilians were crushed by tanks while sitting in their cars in the middle of the road just for their pleasure.
"They cut off limbs, slashed their throats. Women were raped and killed in front of their children."
In Bucha, nine civilians who appeared to have been shot at close range were spotted in a group of 21 bodies by journalists working for the Associated Press.
Advert
Two reportedly had their hands tied behind them.
The town - which was recently reoccupied by Ukrainian forces - was one of many around the capital in which a total of 410 civilian bodies were found according to Ukrainian officials.
Zelenskyy stated: "They killed, shot and killed women outside their houses when they just tried to call someone who is alive, they killed entire families, adults and children. And they tried to burn the bodies."
Advert
The president accused Putin of trying to turn Ukrainian civilians into 'silent slaves' and that the Kremlin's leaders 'feel[...] like colonisers in ancient times'.
While the Kremlin has denied its troops committed such atrocities in Bucha, Zelensky accused the country of 'blam[ing] everyone just to justify their own actions'.
He said: "They will say that there are various versions, different versions, that it is impossible to establish which one of those versions is true.
Advert
"They will even say that the bodies were of those killed were allegedly thrown away and all the videos are staged. But it is 2022. Now we have conclusive evidence."
During the meeting with the UN Security Council Zelenskyy compared Russia to ISIS, declaring that there is 'not a single crime that they [Russian forces] would not commit'.
The president claimed that people had been shot in the streets by Russian military and their bodies disposed of in wells, as well as whole families killed and their bodies burnt.
Advert
He stated: "This is no different from other terrorists such as Daesh [The Islamic State] who occupy some territories, and here it is done by a member of the United Nations Security Council.
"They support hatred at the level of the state and seek to export it to other countries through their system of propaganda and political corruption."
Calling for the UN to either expel Russia, reform or 'dissolve' itself 'altogether,' Zelensky stated as per a translation by The Recount: "We are dealing with a state that is turning the veto in the UN Security Council into the right to die. This undermines the whole architecture of our global security and allows them to go unpunished, so they are destroying everything they can.
"If this continues, the countries will have to rely only on the power of their own arms to insure their security and not on international law, and to not rely on international institutions. The UN can simply be closed."
If you would like to donate to the Red Cross Emergency Appeal, which will help provide food, medicines and basic medical supplies, shelter and water to those in Ukraine, click here for more information.
Topics: Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine, Russia, Vladimir Putin, no-article-matching
