First and second, the beginnings of Reuters and Associated Press stories from Ukraine, made available before 9 a.m. EDT and linked to others concerning the war there. Fourth and fifth, a glance at NATO’s 2022 Annual Report from the Socialist Worker, and a link to the report in its entirety. — MCM
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In Ukrainian street, a corpse with hands bound and a bullet wound to the head, by Simon Gardner | Reuters BUCHA, Ukraine — A man lay sprawled by the roadside in the Ukrainian city of Bucha on Sunday, his hands tied behind his back and a bullet wound to his head, one of hundreds of local residents that officials say have been found dead in the wake of five weeks of Russian occupation. Bucha’s deputy mayor, Taras Shapravskyi, said 50 of the dead residents, found after Russian forces withdrew from the city late last week, were the victims of extra-judicial killings carried out by Russian troops, and the officials have accused Moscow of war crimes. Russia’s defence ministry said in a statement issued on Sunday that all photographs and videos published by the Ukrainian authorities alleging “crimes” by Russian troops in Bucha were a “provocation,” and no resident of Bucha suffered violence at the hands of Russian troops. Reuters was not able to independently verify who was responsible for killing the dead residents. But three bodies seen by Reuters reporters on Sunday — the corpse with the hands bound and two others which did not have bound hands — bore bullet shots to the head consistent with what Bucha mayor Anatoliy Fedoruk and his deputy described as executions. READ MORE . . .
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Russia faces growing outrage amid new evidence of atrocities, by Oleksandr Stachevskyi and Nebi Qena | The Associated Press BUCHA, Ukraine — Russia faced a fresh wave of condemnation on today after evidence emerged of what appeared to be deliberate killings of civilians in Ukraine. Some Western leaders called for further sanctions in response, even as Moscow continued to press its offensive in the country’s east. Western allies, though united in outrage, appeared split on how to respond. Poland, which is on Ukraine’s border and has taken in large numbers of refugees, angrily singled out France and Germany for not taking more strident action and urged Europe to quickly wean itself off Russian energy, while Berlin said it would take a longer-term approach. Ukrainian officials said the bodies of 410 civilians were found in towns around the capital, Kyiv, that were recaptured from Russian forces in recent days. In Bucha, northwest of the capital, Associated Press journalists saw 21 bodies. One group of nine, all in civilian clothes . . . READ MORE . . .
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NATO Sets Out Its Strategy for Even More Military Build-up, by Nick Clark | Socialist Worker NATO sees Russia as a threat to U.S. power—and has poured arms and soldiers into eastern Europe accordingly. That’s not the latest statement from the Stop the War Coalition—but the picture NATO paints itself in its annual report released on March 31. The report gives an outline of what the U.S.’s military alliance got up to in 2021 and spells out its aims for the years ahead. It all comes packaged in the language of “cooperation” and “security.” But once you strip out the guff, what the report really says is NATO’s biggest concern is containing Russia and China. READ MORE . . .
For an online copy of NATO’s 2022 Annual Report, click HERE.
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TO BE CONTINUED