UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres visited the war-ravaged Ukrainian town of Bucha, which was associated with war crimes by Russian troops in Ukraine on Thursday. Guterres toured residential areas in the suburb of Kyiv and nearby town of Borodyanka, that were left largely in ruins when Russian troops pulled out.
“This horrific scenario demonstrates something that is unfortunately always true — that civilians always pay the highest price. Innocent civilians were living in these buildings. They were paying the highest price for a war for which they not contributed at all,” Guterres told journalists. “There is no way a war can be acceptable in the 21st century.”
The UN chief is expected to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba later in the day. Ukrainian authorities have previously requested UN to guarantee safe passage for civilians in Mariupol. Some officials in Kyiv have criticized Guterres’s itinerary after the UN chief met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Tuesday.
