Russia’s retreat from Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv offered a clearer picture of the devastating civilian toll from the war, sparking global outrage against Moscow and calls by Western leaders for war crimes investigations.
The retreat comes after weeks of intense fighting around Kyiv and signals what appears to be a repositioning of troops to expand on territory that Russian forces have captured in the south. On Sunday, Russia attacked key infrastructure on the southern coastline; fighting also has continued elsewhere across the country.
The attacks in the south came as Ukrainian officials accused Russian forces of executing some civilians before their retreat from the areas around Kyiv. Footage posted by Ukraine’s Defense Ministry and photographs from news agencies showed the bodies of men in civilian clothes on the streets of Bucha, a town northwest of Kyiv. Images showed some corpses with hands bound behind their back. Russia’s Defense Ministry dismissed the Bucha photos as “fake.”
Outrage over the civilian deaths could move the needle for the European Union, which has so far rebuffed mounting calls from Ukraine, and by President Joe Biden, to impose sanctions on Russian oil and gas, citing its dependency on Russian fuels. But Sunday, in what would mark a significant shift in her country’s position, Germany’s defense minister, Christine Lambrecht, said that in light of the Bucha atrocities, the bloc should consider banning Russian gas imports.
Here are some other major developments:
— The Black Sea port cities of Odesa and Mykolaiv were stuck by missiles Sunday. Britain’s Ministry of Defense said Sunday that intelligence showed Russian naval forces have maintained a blockade of the Ukrainian coast in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, which is “preventing Ukrainian resupply by sea.”
— American lawmakers called to send more aid to Ukraine. Charles Michel, president of the European Council, said in a tweet that more European Union sanctions against Russia “are on their way.”
— Russia’s chief negotiator in peace talks, Vladimir Medinsky, rejected a Ukrainian counterpart’s suggestion that Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine could soon hold direct talks. Medinsky said the two sides remained far apart on the status of Crimea and the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine, both of which are claimed by Russia.
— Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk of Ukraine said her government was working with the International Committee of the Red Cross on another planned mass evacuation of civilians from the besieged southern city of Mariupol, after a convoy failed to reach the city for a third time Saturday.
