As Russian forces withdraw from the areas around the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, some of the horrors of what they have done are being revealed with bodies being discovered littering the streets of towns
A Ukrainian soldier walks past the body of a civilian, who according to residents was killed by Russian army soldiers, as it lies on the street in Bucha (Image: REUTERS)
Horrifying details are emerging of mass killings and men being slaughtered in the street, in the previously Russian occupied areas around Kyiv.
As the Kremlin’s forces pull out of towns and villages around Kyiv, Ukraine ’s forces and journalists from the west are able to step foot back in them for the first time since they were taken early in the invasion.
However, they have been greeted with horror scenes of dead bodies littering the streets.
At least 280 people were found dead in the village of Bucha, after Russian forces left the settlement.
An AFP reporter in the village counted dozens of bodies and one man whose hands were tied.
Their bodies littered the streets, greeting those who entered the village.
Dead bodies litter the streets of Bucha (
AFP via Getty Images)
In the recaptured town of Bucha, reached by news agency Reuters, the sprawled remains of more than a dozen bodies lined one road. A mass grave in the grounds of a church was still open, with hands and feet poking through the red clay heaped on top.
Bucha’s mayor, Anatoliy Fedoruk, said more than 300 residents had been killed.
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said she was appalled by atrocities in Bucha and voiced support for the International Criminal Court’s inquiry into potential war crimes in Ukraine.
Russia denies targeting civilians and rejects war crimes allegations.
The photos show the widespread destruction and horrific actions of the Russian armies amidst fears this is only the beginning.
A video believed to be of one such village shows Ukrainian troops having to slalom their trucks down the streets to avoid all the dead bodies that lay there.
The haunting images show a significant number of dead, cast across the street and at the road side with no one to move their bodies.
As Russia pulls its troops out of occupied towns, the truth about their actions is being slowly revealed ( Image: AFP via Getty Images)
The video ends with two more bodies, of two people who died together.
More horrifying reports are coming from the liberated regions around Kyiv and in Kyiv Oblast.
Anastasiia Lapatina, a Ukrainian journalist, said: “Russians are shooting civilians after tying their hands behind their backs.
“Dead bodies are all over the Kyiv oblast, on the streets, in cars, in people’s yards. Mass graves are full of unidentified bodies.
“Many families will never know what happened to their loved ones”.
This was the haunting sight which greeted Ukrainian troops and journalists returning to previously occupied towns (
AFP via Getty Images)
Another horrifying picture from Motizhin, in Kyiv Oblast, shows dead bodies half buried in what could be a mass grave.
Faces and limbs are sticking out of the dirt and sand where the bodies were dumped.
These shocking reports confirm the worst fears of many as the invasion continues into its fifth week.
There have long been reports of Russian atrocities from occupied territories but the new pictures are proof of what many feared.
Many fear this is just the beginning and in time these images will be replicated by Russian troops across Ukrainian towns and villages ( Image: REUTERS)
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