Coveney describes 'horrific scenes of brutality and murder' witnessed on Ukraine visit
Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney in Bucha, Ukraine.
Of more than 400 bodies identified in a mass grave in Bucha, just two were military personnel, Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney has said.
Speaking to the at the conclusion of his visit to Bucha and Kyiv in Ukraine, Mr Coveney said there is irrefutable evidence of mass murder of innocent civilians by Russian troops as they were being pushed back.
“So far, in Bucha alone they have documented just over 400 people, and over 100 still missing," he said.
"Over 400 people were documented as killed and only two of those were military.
"That tells its own story and says a lot about the deliberate targeting of civilians and the brutality used by some of the Russian troops as they were being pushed out.”
Ireland, he said, has now pledged €3m to help fund the International Criminal Court to build the evidence to prosecute Russia for war crimes and crimes against humanity over what its troops did in Bucha and in other suburbs around Kyiv.
Mr Coveney held a series of meetings with the mayor of Bucha and members of Ukraine’s government, who recounted the true scale of the horror inflicted on their citizens.
“The mayor gave graphic accounts of families trying to leave in their cars," he said.
"They have white flags on the tops of their cars and paint on the side of their cars saying we are not military. Yet bulletholes and smashed windows in civilian cars which were clearly being fired upon as innocent civilians were trying to escape.
“Obviously horrific scenes being recounted of brutality and murder.
"There are only so many adjectives one can use to describe such brutality and horror.”
Mr Coveney said he was told of accounts of women and even young children being targeted.
“I have gotten accounts from the minister that women and girls were raped," he said.
"And I did get an account of a seven-year-old girl who was killed with the butt of a rifle having been hit with it.
"This is war and this is what happens when people don’t comply with the conventions and when civilians are targeted and murdered.
"It will be up to the International Criminal Court to document that and build the case, and clearly there is no shortage of evidence.”
Speaking earlier, Mr Coveney said Ireland is strongly pushing for a "maximalist" package of sanctions against Russia during a trip to the Ukrainian capital today.
Of the €3m donated to the International Criminal Court (ICC), one-third will be disbursed immediately to the Office of the Prosecutor who is already examining the actions of Russia in Ukraine and compiling evidence.
Mr Coveney warned that "even the most powerful countries in the world are accountable to international law", adding that some of the acts being carried out by Russian forces in Ukraine at the moment will be declared war crimes in the future.
"I met the ICC prosecutor, Karim Khan, earlier this week, and I know his office is working closely with the office of the Ukrainian prosecutor general, Iryna Venediktiva," he said.
"It is essential in all situations where war crimes may have been committed to undertake investigations and ensure the collection of evidence, including in relation to crimes of sexual and gender-based violence, and to provide support for witnesses, victims, and survivors."
On further sanctions, he said: "We are strongly advocating for a maximalist approach in the context of sanctions as a deterrent.
"We believe it needs to move beyond what has currently been agreed collectively by the EU to include an oil embargo in a sixth package of sanctions."
He added that Ireland may be a small country, but currently has a "big voice" due to its membership of the UN Security Council.
"We intend on using that voice to undermine disinformation when it comes, but also to both demand accountability and decisions at a multilateral level through the UN architecture and indeed other multilateral organizations to bring this madness to an end, in terms of Russian aggression and war-making in your country," he said at a press conference in Kyiv.
