By Hannah Ritchie, Masha Angelova and Rob Picheta, CNN
A brigade accused of committing war crimes in the Ukrainian town of Bucha has been awarded an honorary title by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Troops in the 64th Different Guards Motor Rifle Brigade had been named by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense as war criminals before this month, right after mass graves containing murdered civilians had been found and lifeless bodies lay in the avenue next the withdrawal of Russian forces from the Kyiv area.
In a signed letter on Monday, Putin congratulated the unit for their “great heroism and courage” and awarded the unit the title of “Guards” for “protecting Russia’s sovereignty.”
“Through astute and daring steps all through the particular army procedure in Ukraine, the unit’s staff turned a part model in satisfying its military services duty, valor, devotion and professionalism,” the president’s congratulatory assertion read.
The go will be found as a community message to Ukraine’s government and the West, immediately after numerous intercontinental leaders condemned the alleged atrocities by Russian troops in the Ukrainian towns of Bucha and Borodianka.
Previously this thirty day period, accounts of summary executions, brutality and indiscriminate shelling emerged in the wake of Russia’s hasty retreat from central Ukraine. CNN groups saw dozens of bodies buried or strewn across the floor in the devastated suburb of Bucha, just after a brutal occupation that lasted in excess of a month.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has blamed Russia for the killings and identified as on Moscow to quit committing “war crimes.”
The Kremlin has denied any involvement in the mass killings, though reiterating baseless statements that the illustrations or photos of civilian bodies on the streets of Bucha are pretend.
But for the duration of a go to to the towns of Bucha and Borodianka previous week, Global Criminal Court docket (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan mentioned there have been “reasonable grounds to think that crimes inside of the jurisdiction of the ICC are currently being committed.”
Khan also warned that it would be “challenging” to guarantee justice would be served in Ukraine, offered Russia’s decision to withdraw its signature from the ICC statute, which provides the court jurisdiction to prosecute persons for genocide, crimes versus humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. Russia does not extradite its citizens to other international locations.
Because Russia’s failed endeavor to seize Kyiv, it has refocused its invasion of Ukraine with an assault on the eastern Donbas region.
The-CNN-Wire
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