Since the beginning of April, testimonies from Ukrainian civilians have been made that Russian soldiers have been executing civilians in the town of Bucha since March.

As Ukrainian soldiers are gaining key grounds in withholding the Russian army from entering the capital, photos began circulating of citizens who have been killed during the occupation of Bucha, a town in the north side of Kyiv. The Atlantic Council has opened the fact that this is not an isolated incident, “but rather the revelation of the genocidal intentions at the heart of Putin’s Ukraine War.” They also reported that Putin has begun targeting specific civilians, such as local officials, journalists, activists, and community leaders in “stalinist style”.

Brothers-in-law Andrrii Lebeda and Nikolay Tkachov were able to escape on March 9 through convoys. “It was just luck to survive, just luck. No less, no more,” said Lebeda to NBC News. “The bombing increased, like, hour by hour,” Tkachov also said. Both of them reported Russian soldiers attacking and killing civilians indiscriminately, from their own cars to their own houses.

The Russian government has repeatedly denied any incidents taking place, putting statements that it was orchestrated by Ukrainian officials to condemn and provoke Russia.“The behavior of the government … has changed over the years,” said Ilya Shepelin to The Guardian. Shepelin is a banned journalist who reported extensively on Russian news agencies and misinformation. “Ten years ago it would have been easier to keep quiet about an event like Bucha and pretend that nothing was happening and then slowly begin speaking about it.” The international media is not buying Russia’s claims of being provoked. The international community has continued to sanction Russia, which at this point Voldymry Zelensky has been pushing for more support.

As the war rages on, the world should be more concerned about Putin’s attempts in using force as his international policy, now that their is statements of genocide of specific targeted groups of Ukrainian citizens. It seems history repeats itself, as dictators like Putin often have ambitions to gain what they want, even if it means condemnation of the whole world. Ukraine may not be part of NATO this decade, but it’s time that either the Organization or the United Nations do something about the situation rather than just sanctions, but put a halt to Russia in any way possible.