Ukraine, including evidence of bound bodies shot at close range and a mass grave found in areas retaken from Russian troops, as fighting raged on in the country’s south and east.Taras Shapravskyi, deputy mayor of Bucha, a town around 40 kilometres northwest of Kyiv city, said 50 of some 300 bodies found after Kremlin forces withdrew late last week were the victims of extra-judicial killings carried out by Russian troops.
Ukraine demands new sanctions on Russia over ‘massacre’ in Bucha Ukrainian authorities said they were investigating possible war crimes there, a description also used by French President Emmanuel Macron.
The Kremlin categorically denied any accusations related to the murder of civilians in the town.Reuters could not independently verify the number of dead or who was responsible.But its reporters in Bucha saw one man sprawled by the roadside, his hands tied behind his back and a bullet wound to his head.
A mass grave at a church remained open, with hands and feet poking through red clay heaped on top.Pictures of the destruction and civilian deaths in Bucha looked set to galvanize the United States and Europe into fresh sanctions against Moscow.The images were also poised to overshadow peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, due to restart by video link on Monday against a backdrop of artillery bombardments in Ukraine’s south and east, where Russia says it is now focusing its operations after withdrawing from around Kyiv.Ukrainian television showed smoking fuel tanks and fire trucks near the Black Sea port of Odesa.