War crimes in Ukraine

Soldiers can be kind too. My father fought in the last months of WW2. He was fighting in the push into Germany in Jan/Feb 1945. He was in a battle in Belgium, a village in Belgium. The people who lived in the village had run away into the hills to hide whilst the battle was fought. He was in a large house on one side of the valley with his unit, the Germans were in another large building across the valley. His unit came across two children, a boy and a girl aged about five and six. The soldiers took these children into the house for safety. They cared for them for the five or six days of the battle. Dad told me that they heated water and washed them, they fed them, and they made up little beds for them at night. When the battle was over the people returned to the village. The grandmother ran towards her grandchildren, flapping her large white apron, and waving her arms. She couldn’t thank the British soldiers enough for the lives of her grandchildren. My Dad was 19 years old.

Oh I see, white feathers, of course. That was cruel.
I was thinking of women actually using violence or abuse. Of course it can happen but rarely compared to men.
In my 20 years of child protection the few cases where a woman was involved in sexual or other abuse they were usually under the influence of a partner who led it all. In the case of West and Hindley, think they were probably as bad, but the women I knew had chosen the partner over their children and turned a blind eye. Terrible.

Guaranteed that Putin will not be put to trial.

But he certainly should not be rewarded in any way for his invasion.

GillT37 indeed it is shocking and it makes us feel very vulnerable because of that familiarity of lifestyle.
Whereas with equally devastating conflicts, with more unfamiliar p
cultures, we generally do not display such empathy or level of concern.

I keep thinking that too Gill and PECS. In fact the night before this started the tv news showed people going to the theatre , cinema and restaurants in Kyiv. Just normal life. It can all turn on a sixpence. I feel for them all, wherever they are. They are people as we are. Good and bad, happy and sad.

Maddyone - great action by those young soldiers. I accept British troops have been involved in cruelty and worse. It isn’t part of their training or culture to rape children (and women)on a massive scale, in front of their loved ones.

I am absolutely horrified by the suffering of ordinary people in Ukraine. The news today is appalling. The cruelty inflicted on innocent civilians is unbearable - raped, tortured, murdered then left in the street like rubbish. Such evil.

"Civilisation is a thin veneer". I wonder if we all just got too complacent.

It’s absolutely sickening what is being reported and captured for future prosecutions. How is this evil man and his barbaric actions ever going to be stopped? I haven’t a clue without starting something that the world may regret. But he must be stopped somehow.

Iam64

Maddyone - great action by those young soldiers. I accept British troops have been involved in cruelty and worse. It isn’t part of their training or culture to rape children (and women)on a massive scale, in front of their loved ones.

Thank you Iam. My Dad was a lovely, caring man, but the other soldiers must have been caring too. When I see what is going on in Ukraine I feel horror and repulsion, as we all do. I just put that true story in the thread to illustrate that not all soldiers and armies behave in such a vile way. But I think we all know that.

Could it be that these soldiers who commit these appalling atrocities are on drugs fed to them by their C.O's? that and being endlessly told that they are fighting to liberate Ukraine from Nazis? I have read that this was the case in WW2 with German troops, ( not the Nazi bit) except of course they were, according to them (justifiably!!) murdering Jews and other undesirables. Having said that, liberating Russian troops at the end of the war were more feared than Germans, so perhaps Russian troops are trained to be particularly barbaric. Tbh, I can't believe what I'm seeing and hearing, just completely shocking, although I do agree that civilisation is a thin veneer. We like to think it would never be us, but, frighteningly, who knows?

There is no excuse.

I watch everything possible on the news about the war in ukraine and as I listen and see the reports, tears run down my face, i have no words, just tears.

I feel guilty for waking up to a fresh new day of freedom something that everyone of us takes for granted and then i switch the news on and feel utterly, utterly sad, horrendously sad and utter disbelief that THIS is happening to those poor innocent people of Ukraine, heartbreaking....

DaisyAnne

"Civilisation is a thin veneer". I wonder if we all just got too complacent.

Indeed it is, we are all concentrating on Ukraine currently but there are many other wars taking place where innocent people are being terrorized.

I have just seen the most dreadful thread on Twitter by a Ukrainian journalist, highlighting that parents are writing kn their young children backs, their name, dare of birth and family contact details if the parents are killed, absolutely heartbreaking ?

GrannyGravy13 Nooo ! Ohh that is ...well.... i am lost for words. Absolutely heartbreaking.

Here I am sat in my nice warm kitchen thinking about if I have all the ingredients for cooking tomorrow with my 4 yr old GD and there are mothers in Ukraine writing contact details on their precious childs back incase he/she is killed!!!!! Ohhhhh i could cry an ocean....

President Zelensky's heartbroken face on the front of the newspapers this morning speaks more than words ever could.

This incredible piece of reporting sums up the reality of this appalling war and the bravery and suffering of the Ukrainian people. Please be warned it is upsetting and is almost unbearable to watch. Jeremy Bowen has said on his Twitter feed that this lady is now being helped by MSF. Thank goodness for them.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-europe-60977889

The BBC reported Zelensky’s visit to the war crimes scenes at Bucha as ‘alleged war crimes.’ Isn’t the body count of hundreds, the shallow graves and the mass graves, plus the evidence of women reporting rapes enough for the BBC? These crimes aren’t ‘alleged,’ they happened and the pictures we’ve all seen show absolutely that they’ve happened.

maddyone

The BBC reported Zelensky’s visit to the war crimes scenes at Bucha as ‘alleged war crimes.’ Isn’t the body count of hundreds, the shallow graves and the mass graves, plus the evidence of women reporting rapes enough for the BBC? These crimes aren’t ‘alleged,’ they happened and the pictures we’ve all seen show absolutely that they’ve happened.

Ah, but the BBC thinks it has to be 'balanced'. Russia is claiming that the massacre is faked and that the Ukrainians did it themselves. BBC just keeping both sides happy?

Heard a bit on news headlines this morning, Ukraine says that what comes out of Mariupol is going to be much worse...

My heart aches for these poor people.

In my opinion the BBC is being balanced. It has multiple explicit articles and a section fact-checking Russia's claims.

I rely on the BBC as they don't jump in, they report what they know to be fact, they check and then they report again. Other sources steam in and, when they do report the actual truth it has been lost in a sea of 'maybes'.

Ah, but the BBC thinks it has to be ‘balanced’. ……….BBC just keeping both sides happy.

That’s exactly what I think Maizie. I have no understanding of why the BBC would feel the need to keep Russia ‘happy’ though whilst we’re in the middle of this horrendous tragedy. I wonder if the BBC felt the need to keep Germany happy during WW2?

I am physically sickened by the latest atrocities and the discussion raised about rape being used as a method of warfare.
Nothing new, I know, but I would have hoped the days of “Frau, komm” in a thick Russian accent as described by my mother who lived in Berlin in WWII, were behind us.

I would guess that the BBC and all the other sensible news outlets have to be very careful abut what they say, so that if and when Putin and the rest come to trial, they cant use what they say as evidence of any trial being a foregone conclusion.

You’re probably right volver although it irritates me when I’m looking at these appalling pictures. I don’t know if Putin will ever come to trial though. It would make me very happy if he does and has to pay for his crimes.

I also hope he and all the rest of them come to trial, I can't see how it could happen but we have to hope it does.

(Sorry about my spelling this morning, I just had to replace the batteries in my keyboard which is my excuse for all the missing letters.)