Russia ‘must answer for crimes’ in Ukraine – Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron condemned Sunday the “unbearable” images of murdered civilians in the Ukrainian town of Bucha and said Russian authorities “must answer for these crimes”.

“On the streets, hundreds of civilians cowardly murdered,” Macron wrote on Twitter, in reference to the town outside Kyiv from which Russian forces recently withdrew.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian condemned “in the strongest possible terms” the actions of the Russian army which “could be if confirmed, war crimes”.

“I have received information indicating massive abuses by Russian forces in Ukrainian towns that they have been occupying these last few weeks, in particular in the area of Bucha,” he said in a statement sent to AFP.

France could come under greater pressure to accelerate weapons deliveries to Ukraine in the wake of the apparent execution of civilians and discovery of mass graves in Bucha, which has been taken back by Ukrainian troops.

Macron has spoken repeatedly with Russian leader Vladimir Putin since the February 24 invasion of Ukraine and has been wary of provoking the Kremlin, calling deliveries of tanks or aircraft to Ukraine “red lines”.

Poland’s deputy prime minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski accused France and Germany of being too close to Russia in an interview published Sunday.