The Times - UK (2022-04-05)

the times | Tuesday April 5 2022 7

News

Germany and France have announced

one of the biggest expulsions of Russian

diplomats by the West since the end of

the Cold War in the wake of alleged

Russian atrocities in Ukraine.

With both countries keen to shield

themselves from criticism that they

have been soft on Moscow, Berlin indi-

cated yesterday that it was planning to

throw out 40 diplomats. Officials in

Paris said 35 were being asked to leave.

They are thought to be accused of using

diplomatic status as a cover for spying.

Lithuania became the first EU coun-

try to announce the expulsion of the

Russian ambassador in protest at what

it said were war crimes and crimes

against humanity, after images

emerged from Bucha, the town near

Kyiv where dozens of bodies were

found in mass graves and in the street.

Annalena Baerbock, Germany’s for-

eign minister, said: “The images from

Bucha speak to unbelievable brutality

by the Russian leadership and by those

who follow its propaganda with a

boundless will to exterminate.”

Berlin and Paris to expel diplomats

Adam Sage Paris

David Crossland Berlin

from Belgium, 17 from the Netherlands

and 45 from Poland, four from Ireland,

11 from Bulgaria, one from the Czech

Republic and a total of 10 from Estonia,

Latvia and Lithuania last month.

Britain said that it had no plans to fol-

low suit, with a western intelligence

source suggesting that there were not

“very many” Russian spies left in the

UK following the expulsion of 23 diplo-

mats in 2018 in response to the poison-

ings of Sergei Skripal, the former Rus-

sian military intelligence officer, and

his daughter Yulia, in Salisbury.

The source said: “Because of all the

action we took after Salisbury, we actu-

ally don’t have very many of that cate-

gory of Russian in the embassy in

London at the moment. So while we

keep it under review, we have no plans

at the moment.”

The expulsion is the biggest in

France since 1983, when 47 Soviet spies

were ordered to leave after their identi-

ties were revealed by a Russian agent

recruited by French intelligence.

In 2018, after the Salisbury poison-

ings, Washington followed the UK by

expelling 60 diplomats, and EU coun-

tries threw out 30 or so more.

She added that it was essential to

“stand up for our freedom and be pre-

pared to defend it”.

“That is why the German govern-

ment has decided to declare a signifi-

cant number of staff of the Russian em-

bassy, who have worked every day here

in Germany against our freedom,

against the cohesion of our society, as

persona non grata,” she said. “We will

not tolerate this any further.”

She said the diplomats were a threat

for the 300,000 or so Ukrainians who

have sought shelter in Germany.

Speaking about the atrocities in

Ukraine, she said that similar images

were to be expected “in other places

that Russian troops have occupied”.

A Russian foreign ministry spokes-

woman accused Germany of being hos-

tile and pledged to “react”.

In a statement, the French foreign af-

fairs ministry accused the diplomats

being expelled of “activities... contrary

to our security interests”, suggesting

that they were being treated as spies.

The ministry said the move was part

of a pan-European policy, which was in-

terpreted in Paris as meaning that it fol-

lowed the expulsion of 21 diplomats

brave priest

in the town. Above, good wishes for Ukrainian troops as they arrive near Chernihiv

Q&A

The barrister Amal

Clooney is part of a

British and US team

advising Ukraine on

potential war crime

prosecutions. She told

The Times: “We are at

the beginning of what

will be a long process

for securing justice.”

What happened in

Bucha and is it

happening elsewhere?

As the Russians retreat

from round Kyiv eight

men in civilian dress

were found shot in the

head and chest. Some

had their hands tied

behind their backs. All

of their shoes were

missing. In Chernihiv,

90 miles northeast of

Kyiv, and in Kharkiv,

300 miles to the east

there was evidence of

two summary killings,

one the killing of six

men. Russian soldiers

are implicated in looting

and rape, according to

Human Rights Watch.

How might Russian

soldiers be tried?

The International

Criminal Court in the

Hague, a UN body, has

told lawyers to begin

investigations — the UK

has allocated £1 million

to assist the court’s

work. The Ukrainian

prosecutor-general’s

office is investigating

Russian war crimes.

Kyiv may want to hold

trials in Ukraine.

How difficult will it be

to convict Russians at

the ICC?

ICC officials are thought

to be reluctant to try

defendants in absentia,

so the Ukraine and its

allies will have to

produce soldiers to

appear before the court.

What are the main

problems with gaining

convictions apart from

producing the

defendants?

Evidence. Battlefields

are by their nature

chaotic and an accurate

assessment of who did

what and when, to the

standard of proof of

beyond reasonable

doubt — is difficult.

Are there potential

charges apart from war

crimes and crimes

against humanity?

Russian officials, and

possibly President

Putin, could be charged

with the crime of

aggression. An “act of

aggression” means “the

use of armed force by a

state against the

sovereignty, territorial

integrity or political

independence of

another state.” Putin

and his generals would

appear to be squarely in

the frame but any

permanent member of

the UN security council

— the UK, US, France,

China and Russia — can

veto a production.

News

My ravaged city still has

humanity at its very heart

E

very day I hear explosions

and air sirens, read the list of

people killed by Russian

bombs and shells. It seems

incredible that our bombed-

out city could be a safe haven but this

week I discovered we have our own

refugees.

People fleeing the latest fighting in

Donbas say it is even worse there.

Some of them travel on further, to the

western part of Ukraine. Others stay

here with relatives and friends. And

here, in ruined Kharkiv, we are doing

our best to help those who were less

fortunate. They bring clothes and

shoes, pillows and blankets, food for

the refugees. Many residents take

refugees into their homes. They do it

because they cannot turn a blind eye

to someone else’s grief.

Residents of Donbas cities controlled

by Ukraine tell me the Russian army

is trying to wipe them off the map.

I was amazed by a young woman

with a small daughter from Mariinka,

in the Donetsk region. They had to

leave their native town because their

house was destroyed by Russian

missiles. The mother saw their house

on fire after being hit by a shell and

could not do anything. Her husband

had joined the army. When I looked

scared during the shelling, her three-

year-old daughter comforted me,

saying: “Lady, don’t be afraid; my

daddy will protect me and you.”

Many people from Mariinka told

me about phosphorus bombs. We all

know they are forbidden in the

civilised world but Russians use them

to kill Ukrainians. I have no words to

describe what I saw in their eyes.

Coming here, they say that they

were able to sleep peacefully for the

first time in a month. Their words

marked me. If the constant explosions

and blaring sirens that make me

girls? How can they live with it? How

did their mothers raise such sons?

I have no answer. And I don’t want

to think what we will see when the

rest of the Kharkiv region is liberated.

My colleague lived in Tsyrkuny, a

beautiful village 10 kilometres away.

That village was occupied by Russian

troops on the first day of the invasion.

My colleague was at home with his

two children and wife when a Russian

tank, driving down the street, turned

its turret around and fired at their

house.

They were lucky enough to survive

and escape the rubble, then hide in

their neighbours’ basement. But the

next day, Russian soldiers began to

look for people in the basements of

houses and take them away.

The colleague was lucky twice, he

managed to escape through Russia to

Finland. Now the way to the

Ukrainian-controlled region Kharkiv

has been cut off. Several thousand

civilians have been there for forty

days, with no gas, electricity, water

and food. I don’t know how many

people survived there. But I know

that we will see many horrible photos

when the war ends. Not only from

Kharkiv. From all the towns and

villages where Russian troops are

situated. I know that we have many

days of mourning for the dead ahead,

for the lost innocents, for the ruined

lives.

Throughout the country, we will

mourn their deaths and mutilated

destinies, and we will wish to

experience the same for those who

did this.

Now anger and hatred help us to

hold on, to be strong and fight for our

lives. So that the next generations of

Ukrainians can live in a free Ukraine

and not be afraid of a crazy neighbour

who decides to arrange a genocide of

our people just because we do not

want to be like them.

I have always been very careful

with words, knowing that the wrong

application can distort the meaning.

But now I am arguing that what the

Russians are doing to the Ukrainians

— all those murders, executions and

rapes — is the genocide of the

Ukrainian people.

shudder are peace for these people,

what kind of hell did they come out

of?

I will never forget the couple from

the Kyiv region. They came to our

volunteer centre to ask for carton

boxes. I found out they need them to

make a house for the dog. A homeless

dog, which they found and adopted

here, in Kharkiv.

The homeless gave shelter to the

homeless, they joked. We gave them

all they needed: food, clothes and

boxes. When we said goodbye, the

woman thanked me with tears in her

eyes. She said that the most

important thing is that the dog will

live in warmth.

I can’t imagine how big and warm

her heart is. She has lost everything

but is clinging on to what can’t be

taken — her humanity.

The next day was the hardest in my

life. We saw the photos from Bucha,

Irpin, Hostomel, and other towns

near Kyiv. I don’t know if there’s

someone on the whole earth who

could stay indifferent, reading about

how those innocent people died.

When I saw the first reports from

Bucha, I was petrified. Until this

moment, I can’t cry. My brain refuses

to accept the fact that people could do

this. How much do you need to hate

Ukrainians to kill unarmed civilians?

What does someone have in place of

a heart and soul to rape and kill little

In the ruins of Kharkiv,

Aliona Noha is inspired

by the way her fellow

residents insist on

helping those worse off

Aliona Noha sees the light of kindness

despite the darkest days for Kharkiv

PHOTOGRAPHS: RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP/GETTY IMAGES; SERHII NUZHNENKO/REUTERS; MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES