WAR IN UKRAINE: April 5, 2022
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: Day 41
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Bucha on Monday (above) where bodies were found lying in the street after the town was retaken by the Ukrainian army. “Concentrated evil has come to our land,” he said. “Murderers, butchers, rapists, looters, who call themselves an army and who deserve only to die after what they have done.”
Zelensky said the number of civilian casualties may be much higher in other cities liberated from Russian control as the ongoing retreat of Russian forces around Kyiv reveals alleged atrocities.
An increasing number of leaders — including US President Joe Biden — are accusing Russian forces of committing "war crimes." Biden has called for a war crimes trial against Russian President Vladimir Putin - CNN
Satellite imagery suggests bodies lay in Bucha for weeks, despite Russian claims, the New York Times reports. Russia’s claim that civilians were massacred after their soldiers left was debunked by the images provided by Maxar Technologies. The images show that a number of dead bodies had been on the street of Bucha since March 11, when Russia, by its own account, occupied the town. A Pentagon spokesperson said there was insufficient evidence to indicate which Russian units are responsible for the atrocities.
Russia has called the images of atrocities in Bucha “another hoax” and called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting on what it called “provocations of Ukrainian radicals.”
Zelensky to address UN Security Council today. The Ukrainian leader predicted that further, worse instances of mass killings of civilians by Russian forces would be discovered - Kyiv Independent
Despite massive western sanctions, EU countries have paid Russia more than $20 billion for fossil fuels since the invasion began, and Russia is projected to earn $320.7 billion from energy exports this year — up 36% from 2021. Full Bloomberg story here. Separately, Kyiv Vitali Klitschko has asked European politicians to cut off all commercial ties with Moscow, saying payments to Russia are covered in "blood" and help to fund its army. “Every euro, every cent you receive from or send to Russia has blood; it is bloody money and the blood of this money is Ukrainian blood. The blood of Ukrainian people.”
German software giant SAP continues to serve Russian clients despite claims it shut down cloud services in Russia. On March 24 it said it’ll be suspending “all sales and shutting down cloud operations in Russia.” A Kyiv Independent investigation found otherwise.
The Biden administration has refused to extend the mandate of David Beasley, the highly-respected head of the World Food Program, beyond a year. The former Republican governor of South Carolina (below) is said to be lobbying for another three years but a highly-placed source tells me that the Biden White House doesn’t want to have Beasley’s term overlap with a possible return of to power of Republicans. Of all the heads of United Nations agencies, I’ve the most admiration for Beasley - a straight-talker who doesn’t flinch at going into danger zones such as Afghanistan, Lebanon and elsewhere. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres took the decision to extend Beasley’s five-year term, which was set to expire early next month, to reportedly avoid a leadership transition during the ongoing global food crisis. The decision would have almost certainly been taken after consultation with the Biden Administration. Unwritten agreements give the United States veto power over certain UN agencies, including the WFP and UNICEF. The well-placed source tells me that Beasley is now effectively a lame duck agency head with many senior staff planning departures.
Congratulations to Stefko Bandera and Shelley Ayres of CTV News W5 for being awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television for their work on a hard hitting documentary on the search for justice for the twin downing of Malaysia Airlines MH17 and UIA PS752 - and the lack of western resolve to makes the skies any safer for civilian airline passengers. I was pleased to have contributed with a lengthy interview in Toronto and materials. Announcement here