On 4 April, when the victims of crimes against civilians were being buried in the liberated Bucha, Russia accused Ukraine of a false-flag operation there and argued that the photos showing the victims had been fabricated. US President Joe Biden called for President Vladimir Putin to be tried for war crimes committed by Russian soldiers in Bucha.

The Russians withdrew regular troops from the Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy oblasts, but according to the General Staff of Ukraine, they left behind sabotage and reconnaissance groups.

On 7 April, the UN General Assembly expelled Russia from the UN Human Rights Council. The US Congress started work on a bill making it easier to send weapons to Ukraine.

The Russians focused on preparing an offensive operation in eastern Ukraine, the aim of which was to establish full control over the territory of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.

On 8 April, British and American intelligence communities confirmed the withdrawal of approximately 24 thousand Russian soldiers from the northern part of Ukraine.

In Kramatorsk, the railway station, where about 4 thousand people were waiting for evacuation, was struck with a missile. The toll was 59 people killed and more than 109 wounded. The Russian Ministry of Defence rejected the accusations of the attack and blamed the Ukrainian side for terrorism. The Security Service of Ukraine initiated criminal proceedings under Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine “Violation of the laws and customs of war”.

On 10 April, more graves of murdered civilians were found in the liberated village of Buzova near Kyiv. The Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Iryna Venediktova, said that 1,222 corpses of murdered civilians had so far been discovered in the Kyiv region.

In eastern Ukraine, the defence of Mariupol continued. However, the Russians managed to break through the defence lines and divide the Ukrainian forces. One part of the Ukrainian defenders of the city was concentrated in the main port of Mariupol, and the “Azov” regiment defended the area of the “Azovstal” industrial complex, with no options of retreat. The 36th Marine Brigade defended the third area under Ukrainian control around the Azovmash sports arena.

On 11 April, the armed forces of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic announced the occupation of the port in Mariupol, and in the evening, representatives of the “Azov” regiment alerted the public that the Russians were using chemical weapons in Mariupol. The next day (12 April), the 36th Marine Brigade broke through the encirclement ring and joined the “Azov” regiment in the Azovstal industrial complex. The mayor of Mariupol reported that approximately 21 thousand civilian residents had been killed in the city since the beginning of the Russian invasion.

According to a report by Lyudmyla Denisova, Ukraine’s ombudsman for human rights, over 700 thousand Ukrainians had already been transferred to Russia. Vladimir Putin also issued a decree ordering the forced displacement of approximately 100 thousand Ukrainian refugees to remote areas of Russia, namely Siberia and beyond the Arctic Circle.

Photo: Ukrainian police extract the body of a crime victim in Bucha. Author: National Police of Ukraine CC-BY 4.0