WEBVTT NOTE recognizability 0.835 NOTE language en-us 00:00:00.480 --> 00:00:04.757 Now to the war in Ukraine, where the discovery of hundreds of bodies 00:00:04.757 --> 00:00:08.047 in the region surrounding the capital Kiev is sparking. Global 00:00:08.047 --> 00:00:11.337 outrage. Ukrainian authorities say the bodies of more than 400 00:00:11.337 --> 00:00:14.627 civilians have been found in towns recently recaptured from Russian 00:00:14.627 --> 00:00:18.575 forces after they withdrew from the area in the town of Boucha. 00:00:18.575 --> 00:00:22.523 Images emerged of some people with their hands tied Will report, say 00:00:22.523 --> 00:00:26.800 others appear to have been shot at close range speaking on Face the 00:00:26.800 --> 00:00:29.432 Nation. Yesterday, Ukraine's President Zolinsky accused Russia of 00:00:29.432 --> 00:00:33.130 committing atrocities. Three, yeah, not see it. 00:00:34.750 --> 00:00:38.215 Indeed, this is genocide is not true. 00:00:39.830 --> 00:00:45.362 And those mission United Mission and all those the elimination of the 00:00:45.362 --> 00:00:51.355 whole nation great and the people we are the citizens of Ukraine. We 00:00:51.355 --> 00:00:56.426 have more than 100 nationalities. This is about the destruction and 00:00:56.426 --> 00:00:58.731 extermination of all these nationalities. 00:01:00.040 --> 00:01:03.351 NBC News correspondent Molly Hunter joins us now from Lavive Molly. 00:01:03.351 --> 00:01:06.963 These are just shocking images coming out of Boucha and other towns 00:01:06.963 --> 00:01:10.575 over the weekend. What can you tell us about these discoveries and 00:01:10.575 --> 00:01:12.983 what is Russia saying about all of this? 00:01:15.400 --> 00:01:18.663 Yeah, Joe and other towns I think are the operative words there. This 00:01:18.663 --> 00:01:22.177 is not just going to happen in Bucha, this is just where we are 00:01:22.177 --> 00:01:25.440 seeing it first. So we have been reporting for the last several days 00:01:25.440 --> 00:01:28.452 that Russian troops have had to retreat, have withdrawn, have had to 00:01:28.452 --> 00:01:31.213 fall back as Ukrainian troops are pushing out around the capital. 00:01:31.213 --> 00:01:34.225 Busha is one of those commuter towns. It's right near European. It's 00:01:34.225 --> 00:01:37.990 one of those suburbs on the belt around Keith, so this is what we are 00:01:37.990 --> 00:01:40.751 seeing. We are seeing pictures and journalists have now been inside. 00:01:40.751 --> 00:01:43.261 Independent journalists have now been inside. This is not information 00:01:43.261 --> 00:01:45.771 that we're getting from the Ukrainian Government. We have seen 00:01:45.771 --> 00:01:49.211 pictures. Of bodies on the street. We have seen pictures of people 00:01:49.211 --> 00:01:52.082 with their hands tied. Civilians who have been shot civilian cars 00:01:52.082 --> 00:01:55.214 which have been completely blown up and shot out and actually Jones 00:01:55.214 --> 00:01:58.085 Savannah. I literally just finished an interview with two people who 00:01:58.085 --> 00:02:01.739 came out of Boucha said they had seen this with their own eyes. They 00:02:01.739 --> 00:02:04.871 saw people on bicycles who had been shot civilians who were just 00:02:04.871 --> 00:02:08.264 laying on the ground and they said when they escaped and they tried 00:02:08.264 --> 00:02:11.396 to keep their eyes on the road, we literally just finished this 00:02:11.396 --> 00:02:14.789 interview. They were trying to keep their eyes on the road trying to 00:02:14.789 --> 00:02:16.616 keep their kids focused in the cars. 00:02:16.740 --> 00:02:20.124 They didn't look outside at all the bodies, but you heard President 00:02:20.124 --> 00:02:23.508 Zelensky there. He calls it genocide. We know Human Rights Watch is 00:02:23.508 --> 00:02:26.046 inside buccho today. They are starting their investigation. What 00:02:26.046 --> 00:02:29.712 happens next is this is a crime scene. So now investigators need to 00:02:29.712 --> 00:02:33.942 go in. No one can tamper with the bodies. No one can tamper with the 00:02:33.942 --> 00:02:36.762 evidence because that's the only way that then investigators can 00:02:36.762 --> 00:02:39.582 start to prosecute possible war crimes. So you mentioned an 00:02:39.582 --> 00:02:42.684 investigation and I think that leads to just the question what's 00:02:42.684 --> 00:02:45.786 next? I mean, we're hearing world leaders condemning Russia. Some are 00:02:45.786 --> 00:02:48.175 calling for. Something like further sanctions, what 00:02:48.175 --> 00:02:51.310 could that look like? What more can be done here and 00:02:51.310 --> 00:02:53.590 and what does that investigation potentially lead to? 00:02:56.380 --> 00:02:59.548 Yeah, in Savannah Joe, I just realized I didn't answer fully your 00:02:59.548 --> 00:03:02.716 question. Russia is denying this. They are saying that whole scene is 00:03:02.716 --> 00:03:06.412 staged, which we know is absolutely not true as far as what's next we 00:03:06.412 --> 00:03:09.316 know here in Europe. The EU is urgently discussing sanctions. Say 00:03:09.316 --> 00:03:12.220 we've heard from French President Macron that says they need to 00:03:12.220 --> 00:03:15.916 target Russia oil and gas much stronger. I think there will be a lot 00:03:15.916 --> 00:03:19.348 of discussion as we saw in the first couple rounds of sanctions. How 00:03:19.348 --> 00:03:22.780 far will Germany go? That's going to be a big question, but that's 00:03:22.780 --> 00:03:25.948 when the investigation then gets going and this may be a turning 00:03:25.948 --> 00:03:30.270 point. To the West, for Europe, for the US is what a lot of people 00:03:30.270 --> 00:03:33.630 were talking about over the weekend. Guys that after images like this 00:03:33.630 --> 00:03:36.990 have been shown to the world. Does this change the calculation for 00:03:36.990 --> 00:03:40.630 the US for NATO military intervention? But as far as the war crimes 00:03:40.630 --> 00:03:43.430 investigation, that's a long process and evidence needs to be 00:03:43.430 --> 00:03:47.070 gathered. Nothing I, I guess that that we won't see the results of 00:03:47.070 --> 00:03:50.430 that anytime immediately soon Molly. Well, we have you. I wanna ask 00:03:50.430 --> 00:03:53.790 you, you recently visited the important port city of Odessa to see 00:03:53.790 --> 00:03:56.870 how preparations were going for a possible Russian attack there over 00:03:56.870 --> 00:03:59.933 the weekend. We saw Russian missile missiles strike a fuel depot 00:03:59.933 --> 00:04:03.531 there. What more can you tell us about that? And are we seeing the 00:04:03.531 --> 00:04:06.615 start of even a wider offensive in that city in that area? 00:04:09.890 --> 00:04:14.135 The answer to the last question is I don't think so. When you talk to 00:04:14.135 --> 00:04:17.248 military experts and you talk to our own contributors who are 00:04:17.248 --> 00:04:20.361 watching troop movements very carefully right now in order for Odessa 00:04:20.361 --> 00:04:23.757 to really get into the crosshairs of a main Russian offensive. Right 00:04:23.757 --> 00:04:27.436 now, Russians have to free up troops from Mariupol. They have to free 00:04:27.436 --> 00:04:31.681 up Russian warships which are in the Sea of Azov that have to make it 00:04:31.681 --> 00:04:35.926 all the way back to the Black Sea, which is where Odessa is, so I 00:04:35.926 --> 00:04:39.039 think these are strategic smaller strikes on fuel depots. It's not 00:04:39.039 --> 00:04:42.168 the first strikes. That we've seen on Odessa. Certainly the most 00:04:42.168 --> 00:04:45.149 significant though. And look, we'll be watching. We will be keeping 00:04:45.149 --> 00:04:49.214 an eye on that city this week. That is the city you guys that is 00:04:49.214 --> 00:04:52.195 preparing since day one of the war. It looks completely different 00:04:52.195 --> 00:04:54.905 than levy. They are have military checkpoints at every intersection. 00:04:54.905 --> 00:04:58.157 There are sandbags at every building. Half this city has fled. The 00:04:58.157 --> 00:05:01.680 other half is digging into fight. The Navy tells us they have mined 00:05:01.680 --> 00:05:04.932 the famous white sand beaches so they are ready for an attack. 00:05:04.932 --> 00:05:08.997 Whether it comes in the air or whether it comes from the sea. But I 00:05:08.997 --> 00:05:11.707 think we'll still have to wait a little while longer. 00:05:11.820 --> 00:05:15.096 Because Russia simply doesn't have the manpower yet to move that far 00:05:15.096 --> 00:05:18.099 West. All right Molly hunter. Thank you so much. Powerful reporting 00:05:18.099 --> 00:05:19.737 on something so heartbreaking this morning.