In a rare public comment by a Russian company on the conflict, Bernard Zonneveld, a Dutch national, did not say who was to blame for the civilian deaths in the city, but instead called for an end to the “fratricidal” conflict. Ukraine and several Western governments have accused Moscow of war crimes after the bodies of civilians shot at close range, many of them handcuffed, were found in Bukha after the withdrawal of Russian forces. Mass graves containing 280 bodies were also found near the city after the initial discovery on Saturday of 20 bodies on the side of the road. “All these people were shot,” said Bucha Mayor Anatoly Fedoruk. The Kremlin has denied that its forces were responsible for the deaths, saying on Tuesday that the West’s claims that its forces had committed war crimes were “monstrous”. However, the Kremlin’s claims that Ukrainian forces had placed corpses in the city in a “directed provocation” were refuted by satellite images showing corpses scattered on the streets in mid-March, when they were still being held by Russian forces in the same places they saw. in photos posted in early April. Subscribe to the daily Business Today email or follow the Guardian Business on Twitter at @BusinessDesk Zonneveld said he was shocked by reports from the city. “We support an objective and impartial investigation into this crime and call for severe punishment for the perpetrators,” he said. “We all hope that this fratricidal conflict, which is destroying lives, families and entire cities, will end soon, and we want those responsible for such crimes to be properly punished.” Rusal founder Oleg Deripaska said last month that his personal opinion was that the conflict was “madness” that would bring shame to future generations.
