Is this proof of Putin execution squads?
MASS graves have been discovered on the outskirts of Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, it was claimed yesterday, amid fears that Russian troops are executing civilians as they retreat.
Horrific images emerged of bodies strewn across the streets of commuter town Bucha, which was retaken by Ukrainian forces on Friday. The town’s mayor, Anatoly Fedoruk, last night told
AFP news agency: ‘We have already buried 280 people in mass graves.’
The corpses of at least 20 men in civilian clothes were found on a single residential street. One had his hands tied behind his back with white cloth. A Ukrainian passport lay on the ground nearby.
‘All these people were shot, killed, in the back of the head,’ Mr Fedoruk said.
He added that many of the bodies had white bandages on them ‘to show that they were unarmed’ and that a 14-year-old boy was among the dead.
He claimed some of the victims had tried to cross theBuc hank a river to Ukrainian controlled territory and that entire families had perished, including ‘children, women, grandmothers. These are the consequences of Russian occupation,’ he added.
Kira Rudik, an MP and leader of Ukrainian Golos Zmin political party, posted a video of the horrifying scene on Twitter and wrote: ‘Russians were killing people with their hands tied behind their backs and left the bodies near the road. I am shaking.’
Bucha, a suburban town of 28,000 people, has been devastated by the fighting. Shell explosions have blown gaping holes in apartment blocks and crushed cars litter the streets, according to the first journalists to reach the town.
Sixteen of the 20 corpses found on one street were lying either on the pavement or by the verge. Three were sprawled in the middle of the road and another was lying in the courtyard of a house. One appeared to have been killed as he rode his bicycle.
All were wearing civilian clothes, including jackets or tracksuit tops, jeans or jogging bottoms, and trainers or boots.