ICC prosecutors should urgently come to Chernihiv to document “real genocide”
It is urgent to send prosecutors from The Hague to Chernihiv, to record the use of the internationally proscribed weapons against the civilians as what is happening in the city is a “real genocide.”
That’s according to Chernihiv Mayor Vladislav Atroshenko, who spoke about the situation in the city in an interview with Gordon, Ukrinform reports.
"We urgently need to have prosecutors from The Hague here on the ground in Chernihiv, to record the use of weapons banned across the world," Atroshenko said.
He also drew attention to the fact that the city is being subjected to massive airstrikes.
"The day before yesterday, the heaviest airstrikes were inflicted on the city. Those pilots are just soulless scum and fascists. They were dropping bombs from low altitudes in good visibility (it happened during daytime). They perfectly saw where they were dropping those huge bombs – on a residential area. They wiped out several houses in the area of Chornovola Street. Thousands of apartments were damaged there."
He said he had personally witnessed rescuers pulling some 25 to 30 bodies from under the rubble. Atroshenko said he had no exact data on the number of civilian victims of bombings, adding that more than 300 people were wounded and admitted to hospitals, of whom more than half are civilians. Several people hurt in the attacks have already succumbed to their wounds.
According to Atroshenko, due to constant shelling, it is not yet possible to even use the city's main cemetery.
“We can’t even use our Yatsevo cemetery today. We are temporarily using the cemetery in Yalovshchina. The excavator digs trenches, we put bodies in a row and put signs with the names of those buried to later identify and rebury them.
“It’s horrifying. It’s real genocide, absolutely conscious extermination of Ukrainians," Atroshenko is convinced.
As Ukrinform reported, on February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared war on Ukraine and launched a large-scale invasion.
Russian troops have been killing civilians, shelling and destroying key infrastructure, and their missiles have been hitting Ukrainian households.
Martial law was imposed in Ukraine and general mobilization was announced. The Armed Forces of Ukraine, with the support of the entire nation, are courageously resisting aggression.
Ukraine has officially filed a lawsuit against the Russian Federation with the UN International Criminal Court in The Hague. International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan has already launched an investigation into the situation in Ukraine.