Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union” show, Trinto said the images coming out of cities like Butsa were “scary.”
“It is clear that Putin is systematically targeting citizens, whether they are hospitals, train stations or maternity hospitals,” he told CNN’s Jake Tapper.
“This is one of the reasons why Canada was one of the first countries to call on the International Criminal Court to investigate Putin’s war crimes. We provide research support, we build the case so that people recognize that not only was it a terrible mistake to violate another country’s sovereignty and create enormous global instability that affects energy and food prices around the world, but it is also a series “from war crimes that Putin deliberately commits and must be held accountable.”
As Russian forces withdrew from their attack on Kyiv to focus on other areas, Ukrainian forces were able to retake Russian-occupied cities. Photographs of corpses in the streets of Bucha and reports by survivors describing Russian soldiers killing civilians without provocation have shocked the international community.
There have also been reports of Russian soldiers raping and abusing Ukrainian civilians.
A member of the Ukrainian parliament and leader of Ukraine’s liberal and pro-European Holos party appeared on the CTV News Channel Power Play last Monday to describe what she saw during her Bucha tour, calling it a “total genocide.”
Trinto did not say on Sunday whether he believed it was genocide, saying “it remains to be determined.”
“The messages we see, the stories of what Russian soldiers are doing, not just the killing of civilians, but the systematic use of sexual violence and rape to destabilize and have as much negative impact on the Ukrainian people as possible, are absolutely unforgivable and unacceptable, “he said. “And that is why the world community is so responsive.”
On Saturday, the federal government announced that it had introduced more measures to help Ukrainian refugees come to Canada, including charter flights, temporary hotel accommodation, and short-term income support.
