Berlin declares 40 Russian diplomats “undesirable persons”

Dusseldorf Germany reacted to the pictures from Butscha: On Monday it was decided to “declare a significant number of members of the Russian embassy to be undesirable people who worked here in Germany every day against our freedom, against the cohesion of our society”, shared Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock in Berlin.

If diplomats are declared undesirable persons, this is tantamount to expulsion – this now affects a total of 40 Russian embassy employees.

The work of the affected Russian diplomats “is a threat to those who seek protection from us,” Baerbock gave as a reason. “We will not tolerate this any longer. We informed the Russian ambassador this afternoon.”

The Russian Ambassador Sergei Neschajew was summoned to the Federal Foreign Office by State Secretary Andreas Michaelis and informed of the expulsion. The persons concerned have five days to leave Germany. According to this information, the Russians are personnel who can be assumed to belong to the Russian intelligence services.

According to Ukrainian media reports, well over 300 civilian bodies have now been recovered after the massacre in Bucha. By Sunday evening, 330 to 340 lifeless bodies had already been collected, the newspaper Ukrajinska Pravda wrote on Monday, citing a funeral service. The search for more victims continued on Monday.

Regarding the atrocities in the Ukrainian city, Baerbock said these images “testify to the unbelievable brutality of the Russian leadership” and of those who followed their propaganda, “to a will to annihilate that transcends all borders”.

Similar images are to be feared from many other places that Russian troops have occupied in Ukraine. “We must counter this inhumanity with the strength of our freedom and our humanity,” explained the minister. “But it must also be clear that we must stand up for our freedom and be prepared to defend it.”

Baerbock emphasized that the federal government will initiate further reactions together with Germany’s partners. “We will further tighten the existing sanctions against Russia, we will resolutely increase our support for the Ukrainian armed forces and also strengthen NATO’s eastern flank.”

>> Read about this: After atrocities in Bucha – EU tightens sanctions

While Western states and the United Nations unanimously speak of war crimes by Russia, the Russian side denies any responsibility for the killing of civilians in the Kiev suburb of Bucha. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has accused Ukraine of orchestrating the situation in Bucha.

According to the Russian news agency Tass, Lavrov claimed that it was a “fabricated attack” with the aim of discrediting Russia. The images of corpses have been circulated on social media by Ukraine and Western countries.

Everyone will get what they “deserve” in their time. Defense Minister of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov

The Russian Presidential Office also denied all allegations related to the killing of civilians. The facts and the timing of the events do not correspond to the Ukrainian account, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Therefore, accusations from the Ukrainian side should be questioned and international politicians should not jump to conclusions.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov threatened the Russian army with retaliation. “Something evil must not go unpunished,” he said. “Our reconnaissance systematically identifies all intruders and killers. All! Everyone will get what they ‘deserve’ in their time,” the statement said.

The international community also does not want to leave Russia unpunished. French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday called for Russia to be held accountable for war crimes before international justice. “It is evident that today there is very clear evidence of war crimes. It was the Russian army that was in Bucha,” Macron told France Inter radio. France has offered the Ukrainian authorities help with the investigation.

“The international judiciary must take care of it,” Macron demanded. “And those who committed these crimes will have to answer for them.”

UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet has called for an independent investigation into possible war crimes against civilians in the Ukrainian city of Bucha. “Everything should be done to secure evidence,” said the High Commissioner. All bodies should be exhumed, identified and examined. Reports from Bucha and other areas raise “serious and disturbing questions about possible war crimes” and other rights violations, Bachelet said.

“For truth, justice and accountability, every effort must be made to independently and successfully investigate what happened in Bucha,” Bachelet said. She called for compensation and reparations for the victims and their families.

Habeck wants more sanctions

Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) also spoke out in favor of further sanctions. “We’ve seen how effective the sanctions are, we’ve also seen where we may have circumventions, we’ve seen where we can ban further Russian goods and thus further destabilize and weaken the Russian economy, and I assume that this will then be reflected in another fifth major package of sanctions this week.”

At the same time, Habeck announced his support for further arms deliveries without restrictions. “The supply of military hardware and weapons should, in my view, continue unrestricted and on a large scale,” he said. “Always with the limit that we are not allowed to become a party to the war ourselves.”

The federal government still rejects an immediate energy embargo against Russia. When asked whether such a step was out of the question, no matter what Russian President Vladimir Putin did, Habeck said on Monday: “We’re working on independence from Russian oil and from coal and gas.”

Germany has largely stopped oil and gas production and decided against other suppliers and energy terminals. “We’re going to rebuild everything and turn it around,” said Habeck. In this respect, there are steps towards an embargo every day.

>> Read also: Federal Network Agency takes control of Gazprom Germania

The Polish government accused Germany on Monday of significantly standing in the way of tougher sanctions against Russia. Germany is the main obstacle to stricter measures, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told journalists.

Next gas transit through Ukraine

Neither the increasing escalation in the Ukraine war nor the conversion of gas payments to rubles have so far affected the transit deliveries of Russian gas through Ukraine. After 108.4 million cubic meters were pumped through the pipeline system on Sunday, 108.3 million cubic meters have been ordered for this Monday, the energy giant Gazprom said, according to the Russian agency Interfax. Both parameters almost correspond to the contractually possible maximum daily amount.

The high delivery volumes are partly due to the weather change in Europe. After a cold snap, the values ​​in many countries are well below the average temperatures of previous years at this time. This means that there is an increased demand for gas as a fuel.

Other recent reports on the war:

Millions of Ukrainians on the run

The Russian invasion continues to drive millions of Ukrainians from their homes. In Poland alone, around 2.48 million people have now fled to safety. This was announced by the Polish border guard on Twitter on Monday. On Sunday there were around 22,300 people. This was a decrease of 6.4 percent compared to the previous day.

Around 457,000 people have crossed the border from Poland to Ukraine since the start of the war on February 24. According to earlier information from the border guard, the majority of these travelers are Ukrainian citizens who are returning to their home country.

Many men, but also women, want to join the Ukrainian troops there and fight against the Russian troops. Others return to care for children or dependents in need.

In Germany, the federal police registered 306,836 refugees from Ukraine by Monday. They are mostly women, children and the elderly. The actual number of refugees is likely to be higher, as there are no fixed controls at the borders and people with Ukrainian passports can stay in the EU for 90 days without a visa.
With agency material

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