900 civilians die in ‘street executions’
Russia war crimes claim as bodies found
THE bodies of more than 900 civilians have been found around Kyiv – many of them “executed in the streets” by Russian troops, it was claimed.
Andriy Nebytov, head of Kyiv’s regional police force, said 95% of victims had gunshot wounds.
He said more bodies were being discovered every day.
More than 350 victims were in Bucha, where mass graves were first discovered last month.
The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet has previously said reports of civilians killed there raise “serious and disturbing questions about possible war crimes”.
It came as a military hardware factory in Kyiv was reportedly hit by strikes yesterday, a day after Russian forces bombed another missile unit outside the city.
Thick smoke was seen rising from the site in the Darnyrsky district on the eastern side of Kyiv, and all the way downtown near the Dnipro River.
Mayor Vitali Klitschko said authorities were still determining whether anyone had been killed or injured in yesterday’s attack.
One person was killed and several others were left fighting for their lives as strikes continued in Kyiv yesterday.
Mr Klitschko added that medics were fighting for the lives of those who had been wounded in a televised address. “Kyiv was and remains a target of the aggressor,” he said.
Moscow had previously threatened to increase attacks on Kyiv after its Moskva warship was hit by two Ukrainian missiles before it sank in the Black Sea.
The Vizar military factory was said to be seriously damaged in Friday’s strike. Andrei Sizov, a 47-year-old owner of a wood workshop nearby, told the AFP news agency: “There were five hits. My employee was in the office and got thrown off his feet by the blast.”
Explosions were also heard in the western city of Lviv yesterday, while the battle for Mariupol was ongoing.
Ukrainian leaders have warned an even greater civilian toll is likely to be uncovered in the southern city, which has been under siege for weeks by Russian forces.
Defence ministry spokesperson Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said in a briefing that the Russians had not completely captured it but added: “The situation in Mariupol is difficult and hard. Fighting is happening right now. The Russian army is constantly calling on additional units to storm the city.”
Home to 400,000 people before Russia’s invasion, Mariupol has been reduced to rubble. Thousands of civilians have died and tens of thousands remain trapped.
Residents have reported seeing
Russian troops digging up bodies in an alleged attempt to cover up war crimes. Nine humanitarian corridors were agreed, including from Mariupol, the besieged southern city where Ukrainian forces are clinging on.
Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said that five were from the east, in the country’s Luhansk region, which local officials have said is under heavy shelling.
The UN has recorded the killing of more than 1,900 civilians since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but warned the “actual figures are much higher”.
Between 2,500 and 3,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the war so far and as many as 10,000 have been injured, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
In a late-night address on Friday he appealed for the fast delivery of weapons and economic support as well as tougher sanctions on Russia, to end the conflict.
He condemned the “cruelty” shown by Russian forces in some regions, adding: “Maybe somewhere in Russia cruelty is respected.
“But in Ukraine cruelty is despised. And punished. And it is obligatory.”