“We were deeply shocked by the images of civilians killed in the Ukrainian city Bucha. The Republic of Moldova strongly condemns the massacre committed against civilians. Those to blame should be held accountable. We offer our sincere condolences to the families of the victims and to the people of Ukraine.”
The message was posted on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration.
Immediately after the Russian troops withdrew from Bucha near Kyiv, Ukrainian officials and media related the atrocities committed by the occupation troops in the city. Bucha’s mayor Anatoliy Fedoruk said more than 300 residents had been killed and many bodies still lied on the streets and on pavements.
“We found mass graves. We found people with their hands and with their legs tied up … and with shots, bullet holes, in the back of their heads. They were clearly civilians and they were executed […] It looks, I have to be careful with my wording, but it looks exactly like war crimes,” said President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s spokesperson Sergey Nikiforov, who was quoted by The Guardian.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter that the massacre of Ukrainian civilians in Bucha was “deliberate”. He called for “devastating” new sanctions against Moscow, including an embargo on Russian energy, the closure of ports to Russian goods and trade, and disconnecting all Russian banks from the international banking system known as SWIFT.
President Maia Sandu declared April 4 a national day of mourning for the victims of the Russo-Ukrainian war.
