Ukraine has discovered 410 dead in villages around Kyiv as part of an inquiry into alleged Russian war crimes, but some witnesses have been traumatised by their ordeal and are unable to talk, according to the country’s top prosecutor on Sunday.
After Russia withdrew from several areas around Kyiv, the mayor of Bucha, a liberated town 37 kilometres (23 miles) northwest of the capital, said that Russian forces killed 300 civilians while Chechen fighters occupied the area.
Russia has refuted claims that its troops killed civilians in Bucha. Moscow claims that no people were subjected to any violence by Russian military and accuses Kyiv of staging a fabricated provocation for Western media.
Prosecutors from Ukraine were just allowed to reach the towns of Bucha, Irpin, and Hostomel for the first time on Sunday, and they need more time to determine the scope of the crimes, according to Prosecutor General Iryna Venedyktova.
‘We must deal with witnesses,’ Venedyktova explained.
‘Today, people are so stressed out that they are physically unable to communicate.’
She stated that 140 bodies had been examined thus far, but that she would request that the health ministry send as many forensic experts as possible to a field hospital in the Kyiv region.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy, President of Ukraine, stated: ‘Hundreds of people were slaughtered. Civilians were tortured and executed. There are corpses on the streets. Mined terrain. Even the dead’s remains were mined.’
Zelenskiy stated that it was obvious that the West will put more sanctions on Russia, but that this was insufficient. more info
Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskiy said it was evident hundreds of civilians had been murdered, but he did not want to disclose how many because attempts to clear mines in the region were still ongoing.
‘Many locals are thought to be missing. We cannot provide an exact number, but there are a large number of people,’ he stated.
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