More than 900 civilian bodies found in Kyiv region, say police
More than 900 civilian bodies have been discovered in the region surrounding the Ukrainian capital following the withdrawal of Russian forces – most of them shot, police said yesterday.
Andriy Nebytov, the head of Kyiv's regional police force, said the bodies were abandoned in the streets or given temporary burials. He cited police data indicating that 95 per cent died from gunshot wounds.
"Consequently, we understand that under the (Russian) occupation, people were simply executed in the streets," Mr Nebytov said.
More bodies are being found every day, under rubble and in mass graves, he added. "The most victims were found in Bucha, where there are more than 350 corpses," he said.
Meanwhile, Russia's Defence Ministry promised to ramp up missile attacks on the Ukrainian capital in response to Ukraine's alleged aggression on Russian territory, an ominous warning that followed Moscow's stinging loss of its flagship in the Black Sea.
The threat of intensified attacks on Kyiv came after Russian authorities accused Ukraine of wounding seven people and damaging about 100 residential buildings with
airstrikes in Bryansk, a region bordering Ukraine. Authorities in another border region of Russia also reported Ukrainian shelling on Thursday.
"The number and the scale of missile attacks on objects in Kyiv will be ramped up in response to the Kyiv nationalist regime committing any terrorist attacks or diversions on the Russian territory," Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.
Russia issued the warning while it continues to prepare for a renewed offensive in eastern Ukraine.
In Kyiv, a renewed bombardment could mean a return to the steady wail of air raid sirens heard during the early days of the invasion.
Ukrainian officials have not confirmed striking targets in Russia, and the reports could not be independently verified.
However, Ukrainian officials said their forces did strike a key Russian warship with
missiles. If true, the reported attack on the guided-missile cruiser Moskva, named after the Russian capital, would represent an important victory for Ukraine and a symbolic defeat for Russia.
The warship sank while being towed to port on Thursday after suffering heavy damage under circumstances that remained in dispute. Moscow acknowledged a fire on board but not any attack.
US and other Western officials could not confirm what caused the blaze.
The Moskva had the capacity to carry 16 long-range cruise missiles.
British defence officials said the Moskva's loss would probably force Moscow to change how its naval forces operate in the Black Sea. In a social media post, the Ministry of Defence said the ship, which returned to operational service last year after a major refit, "served a key role as both a command vessel and air defence node".
If Ukrainian forces took out the vessel, the Moskva probably represents the largest warship to be sunk in combat since the Falklands Conflict. A British submarine torpedoed the Argentinenavycruiserthegeneral Belgrano during the 1982 conflict, killing more than 300 sailors on board.
The Russian warship's loss in aninvasionalreadywidelyseen as a historic blunder was also a symbolic defeat for Moscow as its troops regroup for an offensive in eastern Ukraine after retreating from the Kyiv region and much of the north.
In his nightly address on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Ukrainians they should be proud of having survived 50 days under Russian attack when the invaders "gave us a maximum of five".
Russia's warning of renewed air strikes did not stop Kyiv residents from taking advantage of a sunny and slightly warmer spring day as the weekend approached.
More people than usual were out on the streets yesterday, walking dogs, riding electric scooters and strolling hand in hand.
In one central park, a small group of people including a woman draped in a Ukrainian flag danced to the music of a portable speaker.
Residents reported hearing explosions in parts of Kyiv overnight, but it was not clear what sites were targeted.
News about the Moskva overshadowed Russian claims of advances in the southern port city of Mariupol, which Moscow's forces have blockaded since the early days of the invasion.
Mariupol's mayor said this week that more than 10,000 civilians had died and the death toll could surpass 20,000.
Mariupol's capture would allow Russian forces in the south, which came up through the annexed Crimean Peninsula, to fully link up with troops in the Donbas region, Ukraine's eastern industrial heartland and the target of the looming offensive.
Moscow-backed separatists have fought Ukrainian forces in the Donbas since 2014, the same year Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine. Russia has recognised the independence of two rebel-held areas of the region.
Meanwhile, the Russian Defence Ministry said yesterday that Russian strikes in the Kharkiv region "liquidated a squad of mercenaries from a Polish private military company" of up to 30 people. Russiainvadedukraineonfebruary 24 and has suffered thousandsofmilitarycasualties.the conflict has killed untold numbers of Ukrainian civilians.
Family of British prisoner of war beg Vladimir Putin to treat him ‘with humanity’
The family of a British man allegedly captured by Russian forces while fighting in the Ukrainian resistance have described footage of him in captivity as "propaganda", as they begged Vladimir Putin to "treat him with humanity".
Images on Russian television appeared to show prisoner of war Aiden Aslin, 28, originally from Nottinghamshire, being led around in handcuffs with a cut on his forehead.
Days earlier, comments posted on his Twitter account, which is being run by a friend while he is fighting with the Ukrainian marines, said he had "no choice but to surrender to Russian forces".
Footage shared on social media apparently showing Mr Aslin in captivity was allegedly broadcast on Russian state-controlled televi
sion channel RT, which was recently taken off air in the UK by broadcasting regulator Ofcom amid concerns it was peddling Kremlin propaganda.
Speaking dispassionately and slowly, in broken sentences, he says: "I fought in beginning, Ukraine was good side.
"But then eventually I see they don't make right decisions that would end war."
His grandmother, Pamela Hall, told the PA news agency: "It's propaganda.
"Ukraine is his adopted country.
"He's engaged to a Ukrainian lady, they live together.
"He was due to get married this month, and they were talking about setting up a new home together, children – great-grandchildren in my case."
Ang Wood, the Briton's mother, called on the Kremlin
to treat her son as a prisoner of war in accordance with international rules, and for the British Government to "take Putin down".
Ms Wood told the Telegraph: "He called me and said they have no weapons left to fight.
"I love my son, he is my hero.
"They put up one hell of a fight. Boris (Johnson) needs to take Putin down."
She said she recognised her son from images released in Russia due to his distinctive tattoos.
"It's Aiden, I can't deny it. It's him," she said.
"I'm in bits. My son will be scared just as we are.
"I now hold Vladimir Putin to the terms of the Geneva Convention.
"Aiden is a serving member of the Ukrainian armed forces and as such is a prisoner of war and must be treated with humanity.
"It already looks like he has been beaten up.
"It is time now for the British Government to get involved and help secure Aiden's release."
Mr Aslin had been defending the besieged city of Mariupol with his unit during heavy fighting in recent weeks.
But after 48 days, he said he had to surrender.
"We have no food and no ammunition," a post on his Twitter account read.
"It's been a pleasure everyone – I hope this war ends soon."
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has yet to comment.
The Telegraph reported that Mr Aslin enlisted in the Ukrainian army in 2018 and that he had previously fought against the so-called Islamic State in Syria.