More than 900 corpses discovered as ‘civilians executed in the streets’
MORE than 900 civilian bodies have been discovered in the region surrounding the Ukrainian capital following the withdrawal of Russian forces – most of them fatally 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% 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 has promised to ramp up missile attacks on the Ukrainian capital a day after Moscow suffered a stinging symbolic defeat with the loss of its Black Sea fleet flagship.
The threat of intensified attacks on Kyiv came after Russian authorities accused Ukraine of wounding seven people and damaging about 100 residential buildings with air strikes on Bryansk, a region that borders Ukraine.
Authorities in another border region of Russia also reported Ukrainian shelling on Thursday.
Kyiv has gradually displayed some signs of pre-war life after Russian troops failed to capture the city and retreated to focus on a concentrated assault in eastern Ukraine, leaving evidence of possible war crimes in their wake.
A renewed bombardment could return the capital’s residents to sheltering in subway stations and the steady wail of air raid sirens.
Ukrainian officials have not confirmed striking targets in Russia, and the reports by Russian authorities could not be independently verified. However, Ukrainian officials claimed their forces struck a key Russian warship with missiles on Thursday. If true, the claim would represent an important victory.
The guided-missile cruiser Moskva, named after the Russian capital, sank while being towed to port after suffering extensive 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, and its removal reduces Russia’s firepower in the Black Sea.
If Ukrainian forces took out the vessel, the Moskva probably represents the largest warship to be sunk in combat since the Falklands War.
The Russian warship’s loss in an invasion already widely seen 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.
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”.
In his nightly address on Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the people of his country should be proud of having survived 50 days under attack when the Russian invaders “gave us a maximum of five”.
Mr Zelenskyy did not mention the Moskva by name, but while listing the ways Ukraine has defended against the onslaught, mentioned “those who showed that Russian warships can sail away, even if it’s to the bottom” of the sea. It was his only reference to the Moskva.
News about the flagship overshadowed Russian claims of advances in the southern port city of Mariupol, where Moscow’s forces have been battling the Ukrainians since the early days of the invasion in some of the heaviest fighting of the war – at a horrific cost to civilians.
Dwindling numbers of Ukrainian defenders in Mariupol are holding out against a siege that has trapped well over 100,000 civilians in desperate need of food, water and heating.
David Beasley, executive director of the UN World Food Programme, said people were being “starved to death” in the besieged city.
Mariupol’s mayor said this week that more than 10,000 civilians had died and the death toll could surpass 20,000. Other Ukrainian officials have said they expect to find evidence of atrocities committed against civilians like the ones discovered in Bucha, outside Kyiv, once the Russians withdraw.
The Mariupol City Council said yesterday that locals reported seeing Russian troops digging up bodies that were buried in residential courtyards and not allowing any new burials “of people killed by them”.
“Why the exhumation is being carried out and where the bodies will be taken is unknown,” the council said in a statement.
Mariupol’s capture is critical for Russia because it would allow its forces in the south, which came up through the annexed Crimean Peninsula, to fully link up with troops in the Donbas region.
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.
Although it is not certain when Russia will launch the campaign, a regional Ukrainian official said yesterday that seven people died and 27 were injured after Russian forces opened fire on buses carrying civilians in the village of Borovaya.
WELSH families who have offered to home Ukrainian refugees have criticised the UK Government for the “frustrating” and “embarrassing” delay in providing safety for those fleeing the war-torn country.
Although hundreds of thousands of people have volunteered to provide shelter, the visa processing system is causing delays.
While other countries have allowed refugees into the country before processing paperwork, to enter the UK all refugees need visas. There is currently a threeweek delay in processing.
In March, the UK Government said it was expanding application capacity to 13,000 a week.
Households are offered a taxfree payment of £350 a month to host refugees.
Through social media, and those who have connections with family and friends in the country, many refugees have been contacted by Welsh families who want to sponsor them and provide them with a home. However, the delays have meant many have yet to arrive here.
Catherine Hummel, 49, and her family are welcoming two families who want to stay together at their home in Caernarfon.
She said: “It just feels like we’re giving them false hope. They don’t complain at all, they wait patiently, but it is so frustrating.”
The group submitted their application on March 24 and it took them 10 hours to complete.
Nataliia Isaieva, 39, one of the mothers sponsored by the Hummel family, explained that without basic knowledge of English and documents, the process was very difficult.
Ms Isaieva, her two daughters and their family friend Liudmyla Yatsiuk, 47, and her daughter had to fill out each of the five documents separately.
To make matters worse, after having completed this process, the website glitched and they had to resubmit them.
The group refuses to leave their home in Odesa, Ukraine, until they have confirmation of their visas, and while four have come through, they are still waiting for one passport.
Debbie Green, 48, and her husband, Tony, 53, of Caernarfon, decided to welcome a Ukrainian refugee and her dog into their home, but they have had no news on their application, submitted on March 20.
Ms Green said: “Olga was told that she would hear back within three to five days, we are now on day 23. We just don’t know where we stand and there’s no means of getting updates.”
After a Facebook page organised the escape of Olga Yakovleva, 57, and her dog Colet from Kharkiv, in north-eastern Ukraine, Ms Yakovleva was offered an apartment in Budapest until her visa arrives.
Ms Green said: “It’s been stressful for all parties. And quite honestly, if I had to sum it up in two words, ordeal. I don’t think it really needs to be. This is a failure on the part of the UK Government.”
She added: “These people are already exhausted. They’re traumatised. And what we’re seeing now is now they’ve been forced to stop. They are suffering with the onset of post-traumatic stress; they need an environment where they can feel safe and settled. They need professional help for what they are dealing with.”
Ms Green said the process has been so long and difficult that some people have given up.
Svetlana Davies, 42, of Newport, has been trying to bring her childhood friend, Katerina Kovalova, and her two children to Wales but has had no communication since March 22.
Mrs Kovalova, 42, a teacher, of Avdiivka in the Donetsk region, travelled to Poland with her sixyear-old daughter, Viktoria, and eight-year-old son, Kostyantyn. Ms Kovalova has had to leave her husband, Roman, in Ukraine as part of the national army.
After having completed the visa application on March 22, the family has been living out of a suitcase. They have been given accommodation; the Ukrainian teacher is sharing a single bunk-bed mattress with her daughter, while her son sleeps above them.
Mrs Davies said: “They were told they only had to wait two to three days; it has been nearly three weeks now. Obviously, we understand that there are 40,000, 50,000 applications. Maybe they didn’t realise the number of applications they would get but it shouldn’t take this long.”
A Welsh Government spokesman said: “The requirement to be sponsored and to have a visa to enter the UK is set by the UK Government. They are also responsible for the speed of processing visa applications.
“We have made clear to UK ministers the importance of processing super-sponsor applications quickly, and have been given assurances these applications are being processed as a priority.
“Wales is proud to be a Nation of Sanctuary, and is playing a full part in the humanitarian response to the invasion of Ukraine.”
The UK Government was asked to comment.