Ukraine says situation in Mariupol much worse than Bucha

By Zuhal Demirci

WARSAW/LONDON (AA) - Ukraine’s foreign minister said Monday that what happened in the city of Bucha is just the "tip of the iceberg” and the situation in Mariupol is much worse.

"Ukraine won the battle for Kyiv, but the war goes on," Dmytro Kuleba​​​​​​​ said at a joint news conference in Warsaw with his British counterpart Liz Truss.

Noting that his country is preparing for a new large-scale offensive by Russia in eastern Ukraine, Kuleba said Russian forces will try to capture more territories in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and will also try to take control of the besieged city of Mariupol.

"The horrors that we’ve seen in Bucha are just the tip of the iceberg of all the crimes that have been committed by the Russian Army in the territory of Ukraine so far,” he said.

He went on to say "without exaggeration and with great sorrow" that the current situation in Mariupol is much worse compared to what happened in Bucha and other regions near the capital Kyiv.

The "horrors" in Bucha, Mariupol and other regions warrant serious G7 and EU sanctions, Kuleba added.

"The West continues to fill the Russian war machine with payments for Russian fossil fuels, with trade still taking place between Russia and Western countries.”

- 'Tough new wave of sanctions'

Truss meanwhile said they would be pressing for a "tough new wave of sanctions" on Russia.

Calling for further arms supplies to Ukraine, she stressed that money is still flowing from the West into Russian President Vladimir "Putin's war machine" and that has to stop.

Russia also has "no place on the (UN's) human rights council," Truss noted.

"We will continue to support those who are suffering as a result of Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine, including the victims of sexual violence and those in need of humanitarian support," said the top British diplomat.

She went on to say that the UK will be going after Russian ships, banks, gold and seeking a "clear timetable to limit our imports" of Russian oil, gas and coal.

"Being tough is the only approach that will work. Putin has escalated this war," Truss said.

Russia’s war against Ukraine, which started on Feb. 24, has been met with international outrage, with the European Union, US and UK, among others, implementing tough sanctions on Moscow.

At least 1,430 civilians have been killed in Ukraine and 2,097 injured, according to UN estimates, with the true figure feared to be far higher.

More than 4.21 million Ukrainians have also fled to other countries, with millions more internally displaced, according to the UN refugee agency.