The government of the United States has pledged to ensure accountability for the gruesome massacre of rural civilians by Russian soldiers in Bucha, Ukraine. The government of President Joe Biden also confirmed President Vladimir Putin of Russia war criminal, stating that the scale of atrocities against Ukrainians was “tragic, but not surprising.”

The official outrage from the United States aligns with global condemnations of atrocities Russian troops committed against Ukrainian civilians in all occupied cities; and most members of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and European Commission (EU) call for prosecution of those responsible for the crimes.

The Oracle Today reports that there has been a spate of global outcry in response to videos and images of war crimes against innocent and harmless civilians who were unable to escape from their homes when invading Russian soldiers captured their villages.

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine had in a virtual address informed the United Nations that Russian troops killed, raped and tortured local civilians for fun. He added that the victims included the elderly, adults and children.

Zelensky told the world that Russia troops are ‘cutting out civilians’ tongues’ and want to make Ukrainians ‘silent slaves’ among a list of gruesome atrocities. He also stressed that Bucha is not the only place that has suffered such horrors.

Mr Zelensky who addressed the UN Security Council on Tuesday told council members that attacks by Russian president Vladimir Putin’s troops in recently liberated towns in Ukraine were mainly for “just for pleasure.”

He described how civilians had been shot in the back of the head after being tortured, blown up with grenades in their homes and crushed to death by tanks while in cars.

“They cut off limbs, cut their throats. Women were raped and killed in front of their children. Their tongues were pulled out only because the aggressor did not hear what they wanted to hear from them,” he said.

“The Russian military searched for and purposefully killed anyone who served our country. They shot and killed women outside their houses when they just tried to call someone who is alive. They killed entire families, adults, and children, and they tried to burn the bodies,” he said.

Ukrainian officials said that the bodies of at least 410 civilians have been found in towns around Kyiv, and Mr Zelensky, who visited Bucha on Monday, added that there was “not a single crime” that Russian troops hadn’t committed in Bucha.

Mr Zelensky also accused the Russian soldiers of robbery and looting, saying: “Russia wants to turn Ukraine into silent slaves. The Russian military is looting openly the cities and villages they have captured. This is why it’s called looting. They are stealing everything, starting with food and with earrings – gold earrings that are pulled out and covered with blood.”

He demanded that those responsible should immediately be brought up on war crimes charges in front of a tribunal like the one set up at Nuremberg after World War Two.

Likening the troop’s actions to those of the Islamic State, Mr Zelensky said: “The Russian military and those who gave them orders must be brought to justice immediately for war crimes in Ukraine.

“Anyone who has given criminal orders and carried them out by killing our people will be brought before the tribunal which should be similar to the Nuremberg trials.”

His comments followed distressing images of what appeared to be civilian massacres carried out by Russian troops on the outskirts of Kyiv surfaced over the last few days, leading several Western nations to expel dozens more of Moscow’s diplomats.

President Biden called for a war crimes trial against President Putin and more sanctions against Russia following reports of civilian killings in Ukraine.

Chairman of the US Joints Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley also said on Tuesday gave a long term outlook to the Ukrainian conflict and warned all allies and partners involved in assisting Ukraine to prepare for protracted situation.

Gen. Milley, who is the highest ranking military official in the United States, told the House Armed Services Committee that he expects “NATO, the United States, Ukraine, and all of the allies and partners supporting Ukraine will be involved in this for quite some time.”

He said the conflict would be measured in years, adding he expects an increased U.S. presence in the region for some time.

There are about 100,000 U.S. troops now stationed in Europe, the highest number since 2005, according to reports.