Russia has retreated from Kyiv, leaving destruction and bodies behind. Not only that, but Ukraine troops have discovered hundreds of bodies, some with their hands tied behind their backs.

Video posted to social media on Saturday and verified by The Washington Post showed at least nine people, including one child, lying in the street of a residential area in the town of Bucha, north of Kyiv, after Russian forces retreated. They appear to be dead.

One, still atop a bicycle, lies at the corner of an intersection. He is tilted as though he was about to make a right-hand turn. Others are huddled together on the side of the road.
As the driver weaves between bodies, burned out cars and fallen trees, a narrator says: “If you say that Russian soldiers are people …” and then adds, “simply for general understanding of what happened here.”

What is being shown via media, and social media is horrific. The thing is, there are multiple reports that a number of those found were killed with their hands tied behind their back. 

In Motyzhin, #Kyiv Oblast, four corpses are seen partially buried under sand. One person has their hands tied behind their back, and a woman has a visible wound on her head. pic.twitter.com/DCKJsRCHhf

— Doge (@IntelDoge) April 2, 2022

Yes, the images are horrible, but they SHOULD BE SEEN. Why? Because, if it is Russia troops who’ve committed these atrocities, that should be considered War Crimes. This alleged report doesn’t help Russia one bit. 

In the woods outside Bucha today we met Maria, 80, who hadn't minded the Russian soldiers so much when they turned up at her house. It was only after they withdrew that she found out they had tied up and executed her neighbours. https://t.co/v0saCk4z6p

— Louise Callaghan (@louiseelisabet) April 2, 2022

Again, this really speaks of war crimes. The idea that kids and adults are killed, mutilated, and left behind to die is horrific on any level, but in times of war it’s even worse. 

Below are reports of what Ukrainian troops and others are finding as they move back into Kyiv and the surrounding area. 

Ukrainian troops retook the entire Kyiv region, and were met with shocking devastation upon their return into the area: bodies in the streets, evidence of execution-style killings of civilians, mass graves and slain children.

Among the dead were reportedly Olha Sukhenko, the head of the village Motyzhin, and her entire family, all of whom were taken by Russian troops on 25 March.

Maksim Levin, a Ukrainian photographer whose worked appeared in reports from the BBC and Reuters, was also found dead near Kyiv. The defence ministry said he had been shot twice by Russian soldiers.

The United Kingdom said authorities were working to collect evidence in the Kyiv region of Russian war crimes.

The Baltic states have halted all Russian oil imports, and are encouraging the rest of the European Union to follow suit.

First, Maksim’s death has been verified. It turns out he was quite the famous photographer, well known by many across the media spectrum. Secondly, it’s very troublesome that even the U.K. is now investigating all of this as potential war crimes, while Biden blathers and gaffes. Third, multiple Baltic states are pulling back from using Russian oil. Lithuania is a key factor in this. 

While Lithuania is a tiny country with only 2.8 million people and an economy more reliant on trade than industry, it is the largest economy in the Baltic States and also a member of the eurozone. So while losing Lithuania as a customer is unlikely to significantly hurt Gazprom, Russia’s state-owned energy group, the move has geopolitical significance in setting a precedent for the E.U.

~Snip

“We are the first E.U. country among Gazprom’s supply countries to gain independence from Russian gas supplies, and this is the result of a multiyear coherent energy policy and timely infrastructure decisions,” Dainius Kreivys, the country’s energy minister, said in a statement on Saturday.

Isn’t it interesting that Lithuania does this just after Putin told the world that if they wanted to purchase oil or gas, they’d need to open accounts with Russian banks and pay in rubles? 

Putin is losing his grasp on the wheel for sure. Which is why there is now, potentially, a meeting scheduled in Turkey between the two countries. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will likely meet for face-to-face peace talks soon in Turkey, a Ukrainian official involved in the wartime negotiations said Saturday.

Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia told a local TV station that the two leaders could soon meet as draft peace-treaty documents reach an advanced stage, reported the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency.

Nothing is for sure and certain right now. We’ve heard rumors of the Putin-Zelensky meetings before, and nothing came of it.

So, until they actually SHOW UP, I wouldn’t hold my breath. The proof will be in the pudding as it were. 

Furthermore, given what the media and Ukrainians are finding in the Kyiv area, and what we’ve been seeing in Mariupol, the fallout from Putin’s failed invasion will continue for years. 

De-mining experts going into Irpin told us it would take months, if not years, to clear all the regions the Russians had held around Kyiv. These areas might have been liberated, but not one soldier or civilian we met was celebrating. There was just sorrow, and anger.

— Louise Callaghan (@louiseelisabet) April 2, 2022

There will be a great deal to unpack and multiple after action reports from this Russia/Ukraine mess. One thing is clear, Putin’s strive for power has landed him in a world of trouble. 

Feature Photo Credit: Ukraine russia puzzle via Pixabay, cropped and modified