Russia faces global outrage over bodies in Ukraine's streets

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has visited Bucha – northwest of Kyiv – where images of civilian bodies in the streets have emerged. 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at the start of his talks Monday with U.N. Under-Secretary-General Martin Griffiths that Moscow sees the Ukrainian claim of a massacre of civilians in Bucha outside Kyiv as “a provocation that posed a direct threat to global peace and security.” Lavrov noted that Russia has called for an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council but the U.K.that currently chairs it refused to convene it. He vowed to press the demand for holding the meeting. Ukrainian authorities said the bodies of at least 410 civilians have been found in areas outside the Ukrainian capital after last week's withdrawal of Russian troops, many with bound hands, close-range gunshot wounds and signs of torture.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated the Moscow-friendly leaders of Hungary and Serbia on winning elections. In a letter sent Monday to Hungary's nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban whose right-wing Fidesz party won a landslide victory in Sunday's vote, Putin said that “despite the difficult international situation, the further development of bilateral partnership fully conforms to the interests of peoples of Russia and Hungary,” according to the Kremlin. Putin also congratulated Serbian President Alexandar Vucic on his re-election Sunday, saying that the outcome of the vote confirms a “broad public support” for his independent foreign policies. The Russian leader voiced hope that Vucic's activities will help further strengthen the “strategic partnership” between Russia and Serbia.

Russian troops accused of massacring, torturing and brutalising hundreds of Ukrainian civilians in the outskirts of Kiev may have committed even worse atrocities in villages and towns further from the capital, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned. At least 410 innocent civilians were slaughtered in the cities of Bucha and Irpin to the west of Kiev, Ukraine has said, with bodies discovered littering roads and basements, and piled into hastily-dug mass graves as Russian troops fled the region at the weekend, leaving evidence of their crimes behind, Daily Mail reported. Journalists based in Kiev who have visited the region since Russian forces withdrew say "clear evidence" of war crimes has been uncovered, including civilians shot with their hands bound behind their backs and other bodies that bear the marks of torture and rape.

Britain's Defence Ministry says Russia is continuing to build up both its soldiers and mercenaries in eastern Ukraine“Russian forces are continuing to consolidate and reorganize as they refocus their offensive into the Donbas region in the east of Ukraine," the ministry said in an intelligence update posted on social media Monday.

It says Russian troops are being moved into the area, along with mercenaries from the Wagner private military group.

Overnight, the U.K. said Russia was still trying to take the southern port city of Mariupol, which has seen weeks of intense fighting. It said the city continues to be subject to intense, indiscriminate strikes, but Ukrainian Forces maintain a staunch resistance, retaining control in central areas.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the country will conduct a probe into alleged atrocities against civilians by Russian troops involving international investigators. Zelenskyy said in an address that “the world has seen many war crimes,” adding that “the time has come to make the war crimes committed by Russian troops the last such evil on Earth. He said that a special justice mechanism will be created to investigate the Russian atrocities with participation of international prosecutors and judges.

BMW has halted production at two German factories. Mercedes is slowing work at its assembly plants. Volkswagen, warning of production stoppages, is looking for alternative sources for parts.

For more than a year, the global auto industry has struggled with a disastrous shortage of computer chips and other vital parts that has shrunk production, slowed deliveries and sent prices for new and used cars soaring beyond reach for millions of consumers.

Now, a new factor — Russia's war against Ukraine — has thrown up yet another obstacle. Critically important electrical wiring, made in Ukraine, is suddenly out of reach.

With buyer demand high, materials scarce and the war causing new disruptions, vehicle prices are expected to head even higher well into next year.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters Monday that he strongly condemned the reported attacks on civilians in Ukrainian towns on the outskirts of Kyiv “as violation to international law. European leaders have already condemned the reported attacks, responding to images of bodies in the streets, including some with their hands tied behind their backs.

Kishida said Japan will firmly carry out what it should do” while cooperating with the international society in possible further sanctions against Russia.

First came the warnings, in messages among friends and families and on social media, to stock up on vital drugs in Russia before supplies were affected by crippling Western sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine. Then, some drugs indeed became harder to find at pharmacies in Moscow and other cities.

Not a single pharmacy in the city has it now,” a resident of Kazan told The Associated Press in late March about a blood thinner her father needs.

Experts and health authorities in Russia say the drug shortages are temporary — due to panic- buying and logistical difficulties for suppliers from the sanctions but some remain worried that high-quality medicines will keep disappearing in the Russian market.

Most likely there will be shortages. How catastrophic it will be, I don't know,” said Dr. Alexey Erlikh, head of the cardiac intensive care unit in Moscow Hospital No. 29, and a professor at the Moscow-based Pirogov Medical University.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy appeared in a video message at the Grammy Awards to ask for support in telling the story of Ukraine's invasion by Russia. During the message that aired on the show Sunday, he likened the invasion to a deadly silence threatening to extinguish the dreams and lives of the Ukrainian people, including children.

Our musicians wear body armor instead of tuxedos. They sing to the wounded in hospitals, even to those who can't hear them, he said.“But the music will break through anyway.”

The Recording Academy, with its partner Global Citizen, prior to the ceremony highlighted a social media campaign called “Stand Up For Ukraine” to raise money and support during the humanitarian crisis.

Russian First Deputy Envoy to UN Dmitry Polyansky said on Sunday that Moscow has requested a UN Security Council meeting for Monday, claiming the "provocation of Ukrainian radicals" in Bucha.

"In light of the blatant provocation by Ukrainian radicals in Bucha, Russia has demanded a UN Security Council meeting be convened on Monday afternoon, April 4," Polyansky was quoted as saying by Sputnik.

Moscow will expose "the Ukrainian instigators and their Western patrons," he added.

The biggest cooking oil bottler for UK shops has said it only has a few weeks' supply of sunflower oil left as the war between Russian and Ukraine is disrupting the exports. The two countries produce most of the world's sunflower oil.

Edible Oils, which packages oil for 75 per cent of the UK retail market, is ramping up supplies of other oils for shoppers, the BBC reported on Sunday.

Meanwhile, manufacturers of foods that contain sunflower oil, like crisps, oven chips and cereal bars, are reworking their recipes.

Hundreds of people demonstrated in Madrid to show their rejection of the conflict in Ukraine and NATO's intervention.

Demonstrators, organised by the popular assembly which was made up of independent organisations and associations, gathered in front of the Puerta de Atocha railway station on Sunday and marched in the direction of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"Spain should not give in to NATO pressure anymore," because the effects of contributing to the conflict "are already harming various sectors with very serious effects," according to Lorena Cabrera, Representative of Anti-Capitalist Associations, and several leaders of the organisations.

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is facing a worsening financial plight amid the crisis between Russia and Ukraine, a senior official said.

Media advisor for UNRWA in Gaza, Adnan Abu Hasna told Xinhua news agency that some donor countries asked the UN agency "not to expect even half of the donations and grants they provided to UNRWA in 2021," while "others informed they would postpone the date of their donations".

"This coincides with the global rise in food, fuel and transportation costs," he noted.

Ukraine's prosecutor-general says the bodies of 410 civilians have been removed from Kyiv-area towns that were recently retaken from Russian troops. Iryna Venediktova says on Facebook that the bodies were recovered Friday, Saturday and Sunday. She says 140 of them have undergone examination by prosecutors and other specialists.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk says the mayor of the village of Motyzhyn in the Kyiv region was murdered while being held by Russian forces. Vereshchuk adds that there are 11 mayors and community heads in Russian captivity across Ukraine.

In a video address Sunday, Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denounced the allegedly targeted killings of civilians in towns that the Russians occupied, calling the killers “freaks who do not know how to do otherwise.” He warns that more atrocities may be revealed if Russian forces are driven out of other occupied areas.

Bodies with bound hands, close-range gunshot wounds and signs of torture lay scattered in a city on the outskirts of Kyiv after Russian soldiers withdrew from the area.

Ukrainian authorities accused the departing forces on Monday of committing war crimes and leaving behind a “scene from a horror movie.”

As images of the bodies — of people whom residents said were killed indiscriminately — began to emerge from Bucha, a slew of European leaders condemned the atrocities and called for tougher sanctions against Moscow. In a sign of how the horrific reports shook many leaders, Germany's defense minister even suggested that the European Union consider banning Russian gas imports.

The Ukrainian military says that its forces have retaken some towns in the Chernihiv region and that humanitarian aid is being delivered. The news agency RBK Ukraina says the road between Chernihiv and the capital of Kyiv is to reopen to some traffic later Monday.

Chernihiv is a city 80 miles north of Kyiv and it had been cut off from shipments of food and other supplies for weeks. The mayor said Sunday that relentless Russian shelling had destroyed 70% of the city.

In other areas recently retaken from Russian troops, Ukrainian officials say they have recovered hundreds of slain civilians in the past few days. Ukraine's prosecutor-general says the bodies of 410 civilians have been recovered from Kyiv-area towns.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged on Sunday to conduct an independent probe of the killing of civilians in the Ukrainian town of Bucha near Kyiv.

"I am deeply shocked by the images of civilians killed in Bucha, Ukraine. It is essential that an independent investigation leads to effective accountability," Guterres tweeted.

Russian Defense Ministry has called this a staged operation by the Ukrainian authorities.

On the other hand, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy termed this incident as "genocide."

When asked during an appearance on CBS News' "Face the Nation" program if Russia is carrying out genocide in Ukraine, Zelensky replied: "Indeed. This is genocide"