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Russian troops sell looted Ukrainian property in Belarus: report

06.04.2022 20:00
Russian soldiers have set up special “bazaars” in Belarus to trade and sell items looted during their invasion of Ukraine, news outlets have reported.
Destroyed Russian military machinery in Bucha, Ukraine, April 5, 2022.
Destroyed Russian military machinery in Bucha, Ukraine, April 5, 2022.PAP/EPA/Sergey Dolzhenko

Such marketplaces have opened in several Belarusian cities, according to public broadcaster Polish Radio’s polskieradio.pl website.

At modest prices, preferably in dollars and euros, local residents are offered a variety of “war spoils,” including "washing machines and dishwashers, refrigerators, jewelry, cars, bicycles, motorcycles, dishes, carpets, works of art, children's toys and cosmetics," The Jerusalem Post newspaper reported, as cited by polskieradio.pl.   

Russian troops are also sending looted Ukrainian property home, as evidenced by CCTV footage from delivery-service offices around Belarus, polskieradio.pl reported.

Groups of Russian men in uniforms turn up at such facilities every day to expedite parcels weighing between 50 and 450 kilograms, according to polskieradio.pl. 

'Scooters, car batteries, jewelry'

The contents of these parcels range from scooters to car batteries and alcohol, as well as smaller items such as phones, laptops and jewelry, polskieradio.pl reported.

Some of the Russians send home carrier bags bearing the logo of the Ukrainian shopping mall chain Epicentre, the website said.

‘They rob and kill civilians and send loot to their families’

Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation Mikhail Fedorov told The Jerusalem Post that the property was looted during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24.

Pillaging intensified after Russian forces started to retreat from the area around Kyiv in late March, he added, as quoted by polskieradio.pl.

“They robbed and killed civilians in Bucha, Irpen, Gostomel… and then sent all the loot to their families," Fedorov told The Jerusalem Post, polskieradio.pl reported.

When Ukrainian forces reclaimed areas north of Kyiv last week, they found mass graves as well as bodies of civilians lying on the streets, many with bound hands, close-range gunshot wounds and signs of torture, according to media reports.

Ukrainian authorities said on Wednesday that the exact number of people murdered by Russian troops was still being determined.

In Bucha alone, at least 300 civilians are thought to have been killed by the invaders, according to polskieradio.pl.

(pm/gs)

Source: polskieradio.pljpost.com