OTTAWA-
Ukraine’s ambassador to Canada said her country was investigating more than 28,000 war crimes, including the killing of 373 children, by Russian forces.
Ambassador Yulia Kovaliv says crimes documented and investigated, with the help of Canadians, include the abduction of children to Russia and the killing of fleeing civilians.
In an interview, she says that Russia’s war with Ukraine goes beyond military objectives and includes the destruction of Ukraine’s cultural heritage.
She says Russian soldiers are burning books on Ukrainian history in occupied towns, bombing museums and churches, and forcing Russian to be spoken in schools in occupied areas.
Russia also engages in energy terrorism, she says, bombing 90% of wind farms and solar power installations in Ukraine.
To raise funds for Ukraine on the country’s Independence Day, the ambassador will auction Wednesday a piece of a Russian missile that fell on a base where Canada was training Ukrainian soldiers.
She picked up the shrapnel just before coming to Canada to take up her diplomatic post in April.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on August 23, 2022.