Coveney will support a four-day humanitarian ceasefire declaration proposed by the UN Secretary-General.
Photo: Fabrizio Bensch/Pool/Getty Images
Irish Defense Secretary Simon Coveney announced on Tuesday that he took part in the exhumation of a mass grave in the Ukrainian city of Bucha last week. in which 503 bodies were extracted and only four were soldiers, with the rest being found to be civilians, the EFE agency reported.
Coveney described that among the bodies were a large number of women and children who showed signs of having been “tortured and molested.” These statements were made by the minister as he covered the trip to Ukraine to witness first-hand the devastation of the war with Russia.
“What I saw put me in a state of shock,” Secretary Coveney told the UN Security Council, which again touched on the war in Ukraine.
“I know the difference between the truth and made-up propaganda, and I assure you this was not made upCoveney stressed in reference to Russia’s claims that the mass graves viralized and denounced by Ukraine were “gatherings” of that government.
The minister specified that since he was not a politician, it was not up to him to classify the war crimes committed, pointing out that this was a matter for the court. Similarly, he said he would support a declaration of a four-day humanitarian ceasefire proposed by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.
This ceasefire, coordinated with the International Committee of the Red Cross, would serve to evacuate civilians and encourage the entry of humanitarian aid to the “most affected” populations of eastern Ukraine, mainly Mariupol, Kherson, Donetsk and Lugansk. https://t.co/7dKDYRUyGT
— EFE News (@EFEnoticias) April 19, 2022
New sanctions against Russia would come from the US and the European Union
In the midst of the war, the US and the European Union on Tuesday agreed on a “broad consensus” on the need to put more pressure on Russia through new sanctions. The decision was backed by allied countries, who agreed on the need for increased international isolation from Moscow, DW reported.
President Joe Biden, President of the European Commission (EC), Ursula von der Leyen, NATO Secretary General Jens Stotenberg and nine other heads of state and government met virtually and discussed the situation in Ukraine. They promised to continue to help the Ukrainian government with military, economic and humanitarian aid.
You may also like…
• Putin rewards the brigade accused by Ukraine of involvement in the Bucha massacre
• Russia regrouped its forces and launched an intensive offensive in eastern Ukraine, Zelenskyy warned
• Ukrainian authorities share video of child injured in Russian bomb attack in Lviv