Ukraine: Moscow faced global revulsion and accusations of war crimes after the Russian pullout from the outskirts of Kyiv revealed streets strewn with corpses of what appeared to be civilians, some of whom had seemingly been killed at close range. The grisly images of battered bodies left out in the open or hastily buried led to calls for tougher sanctions against the Kremlin. Germany and France reacted by expelling dozens of Russian diplomats, suggesting they were spies, and US President Joe Biden said Russian leader Vladimir Putin should be tried for war crimes.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian government says that 18 journalists have been killed in the country since Russia’s invasion began on February 24th. The Ukrainian Culture and Information Ministry said in a statement on social media Monday that each of the deaths and other crimes against media representatives will be investigated. The ministry added that another 13 journalists had been wounded, 8 had been abducted or taken prisoner and three journalists were still missing.
The United States is allocating $250,000 to the global chemical weapons watchdog to provide “assistance and protection” to Ukraine if it is targeted or threatened with chemical weapons. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons announced the contribution, following a meeting last Thursday between Marc Shaw, deputy assistant secretary at the State Department’s Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance and OPCW Director-General Fernando Arias. Western nations have warned of possible chemical weapons attacks by Russian forces since Moscow launched its invasion of its neighbour in late February.