Mass graves, dead bodies left in the streets and civilian corpses with their hands tied behind their backs have been found in areas outside of Kyiv that were previously occupied by Russian forces.
Reports of the horrors have circulated as journalists, Ukrainian officials and aid workers venture into liberated Ukrainian cities like Bucha, northwest of Kyiv.
Bucha.
— Illia Ponomarenko ?? (@IAPonomarenko) April 2, 2022
Local civilian males executed by the Russian military. With their hands tied. pic.twitter.com/0wMPjADDsu
Journalists with the international news agency AFP reported seeing “at least 20 bodies, all in civilian clothing, strewn across a single street in the town of Bucha near the capital.”
They reported that one body “had his hands tied behind his back with a white cloth, and his Ukrainian passport left open beside his corpse.”
The mayor of Bucha told AFP that 280 bodies had been buried in mass graves in the city.
At least 280 people found dead after Russian forces leave Bucha, a village near Kyiv where streets are littered with bodies - AFP
— BNO News (@BNONews) April 2, 2022
⚠️: Viewer discretion is advisedpic.twitter.com/Mc9RnFxD6s
Photos of the mass graves and corpses with their hands tied behind their back have been shared online by journalists and Ukrainian officials entering Bucha.
Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Russia deliberately killed civilians in Bucha, and called for additional sanctions from world leaders.
Bucha massacre was deliberate. Russians aim to eliminate as many Ukrainians as they can. We must stop them and kick them out. I demand new devastating G7 sanctions NOW:
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) April 3, 2022
-Oil, gas, coal embargo
-Close all ports to Russian vessels and goods
-Disconnect all Russian banks from SWIFT pic.twitter.com/oZkCAETCQp
The NGO Human Rights Watch reported on April 3, 2022, that it had documented several cases of Russian military forces committing war crimes against civilians in the areas of Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Kyiv.
“These include a case of repeated rape; two cases of summary execution, one of six men, the other of one man; and other cases of unlawful violence and threats against civilians,” Human Rights Watch reported.
Witnesses interviewed by the NGO who were in the occupied areas also reported Russian forces looted the civilian properties they controlled.
The International Criminal Court has opened an investigation into Russia’s accused war crimes in Ukraine.
