(LVIV, Ukraine) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia is trying to hide evidence of war crimes to interfere with the international investigation.
“We have information that the Russian troops have changed tactics and are trying to remove the dead people, the dead Ukrainians, from the streets and cellars of territory they occupied,” Zelenskyy said in his daily nighttime video address to the nation late Wednesday. “This is only an attempt to hide the evidence and nothing more.”
Zelenskyy added that “it seems that the Russian leadership was really afraid that the global anger over what was seen in Bucha would be repeated after what was seen in other cities.”
The Ukrainian leader also said thousands of people are now missing, either dead or deported to Russia.
Zelenskyy is urging Russian citizens not to be afraid to protest the war.
“If you have even a little shame about what the Russian military is doing in Ukraine, then for such Russian citizens this is a key moment: You have to demand – just demand – an end to the war,” Zelenskyy said.
