Harrowing images of people lying dead in the streets after being mercilessly killed, beaten, tortured and set on fire by the Russian army in the once tranquil town of Bucha have recently been making the rounds on social media.

Heartbreaking images include ones of children whose mothers wrote their names and family contact details on their backs, in case they get separated or killed.

“In Kyiv, I was clear. These are war crimes that are perpetrated by war criminals and these coordinated acts of inhumanity cannot remain unanswered. We will hold all those responsible to account”.

Metsola also took the opportunity to remind her fellow MEPs that the people of Ukraine are “fighting for our values in the most impossible conditions” and that “we have to support them”. 

She then went on to express the different ways in which the European Union should back Ukraine and put pressure on Russia, including more sanctions, closing existing loopholes, providing more humanitarian aid and military equipment and move to zero-gas from the Kremlin.

“We need to step up our strategy of making this illegal invasion the costliest mistake that the Kremlin has ever made. The hit to Russia’s economy must be proportional to the unprecedented atrocities that we are seeing”, said Metsola, echoing calls to weaken the Kremlin financially in hopes to minimise the length and impact of the war.

When speaking about Europe being dependent on Russian energy supplies, she warned Parliament that by buying energy from Russia, they are indirectly funding the bombs which are killing countless Ukrainian civilians each week. 

Tensions in Europe have been increasing since the Russian invasion of Ukraine started on 24th February. According to reports, more than 10 million people have fled their homes in Ukraine, with four million of those people seeking refuge abroad and over six million being displaced in the country itself. 

According to the OHCHR, there have been 3,455 civilian casualties in the country, with 1,417 killed and 2,038 injured. These are just official numbers, however, the actual figures may be considerably higher due to delays in reports.

If you wish to help Ukraine from Malta, but don’t know how, check out these Maltese organisations who are collecting funds and supplies to send to Ukraine. Alternatively, you can donate directly to some of these foreign organisations, as well as find a list of different things you could do on this webpage.

This article is part of a content series called Ewropej. This is a multi-newsroom initiative part-funded by the European Parliament to bring the work of the EP closer to the citizens of Malta and keep them informed about matters that affect their daily lives. This article reflects only the author’s view. The European Parliament is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.

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