FM Baerbock becomes 1st from German Cabinet to visit Ukraine

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who is on a surprise working visit to Ukraine, arrived in Bucha on Tuesday, on the outskirts of the capital Kyiv, where Russian troops are accused of committing war crimes.

Several Western news agencies have reported that Baerbock was the first member of the German cabinet to visit the war-torn country since Russia launched an “unprovoked attack” on Ukraine in late February.

Kyiv says that the Russian military have killed and tortured hundreds of civilians particularly in Bucha, Irpin and Mariupol. 

The Russian authorities have insisted that their troops have not attacked civilians in Ukraine, and that videos taken in Bucha were staged “to justify new sanctions by the West and to disrupt peace talks.”

Earlier, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz once again called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war against Ukraine.