Relief as my Ukrainian family settle in Edinburgh as evidence of war crimes grows - Steve Cardownie

As reports of Russian atrocities in Ukraine dominate the news bulletins, it is not without some relief that I was able to welcome my in-laws to Edinburgh on Monday night.

Steve Cardownie's family is happy to have arrived in Edinburgh from Ukraine - but one day want to return home once the war is over. PIC: Contributed.

As I previously covered in this column, they spent over a week in Poland waiting for their documentation to be processed by UK authorities to allow them to travel to Scotland. Now they are being looked after by the City Council which has risen to the challenge of dealing with Ukrainian refugees who are seeking to set up temporary home in the capital.

The mothers of the three children who have arrived are acutely aware of what is happening back in Ukraine and are extremely grateful for the refuge that they have now found in Edinburgh, although they also are waiting for the day when they can safely return to their homeland.

As reports of a mass grave being discovered in Bucha just outside of Kyiv come to light, the evidence that war crimes have been committed continues to grow and the despot, Putin, must be held to account. Images of dead civilians with their hands tied behind their backs fill our screens and according to the Mayor of Bucha, Anatoliy Fedoruk, at least 300 civilians have been killed.

Ukranian President Zelensky told the media when visiting Bucha that it was “very important” that the press was there

"We want you to show the world what happened here. What the Russian military did. What the Russian Federation did in peaceful Ukraine. It was important for you to see that these were civilians," the president added.

The Russians have responded in predictable fashion, claiming the video footage taken in Bucha was staged “showing faked dead bodies in the town” although new satellite imagery of the dead bodies from the earth observation company, Maxar, was taken before Russian troops withdrew from the area.

The Ukrainian government has now started a war crimes investigation after it said that the bodies of 419 civilians had been found around Kyiv and President Zelensky fears that further, worst atrocities may have been carried out by Russian armed forces as they depart from the north of Ukraine.

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