Russians ‘are booby-trapping corpses and homes’
Russians planting mines as they retreat makes return to normal life ‘impossible’
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY yesterday accused Moscow of booby-trapping corpses and homes with mines and trip wires in its retreat from northern Ukraine, with one town being forced to bury hundreds of bodies in a mass grave.
“They are laying mines all over the territory. They are laying mines in houses, equipment and even near the bodies of people who have died. There are many traps, a lot of other dangers,” the Ukrainian president said after Moscow abandoned plans to take Kyiv. The devastation left behind by the Russians as they have withdrawn or been pushed out of the area surrounding the capital became increasingly apparent yesterday, with residents of one village telling of executions, looted shops and schools set ablaze.
In the town of Bucha, officials said they had buried almost 300 people in a mass grave. In just one street, the bodies of at least 20 men were found in civilian clothes, some with their hands tied and head wounds.
“All these people were shot, killed, in the back of the head,” mayor Anatoly Fedoruk told AFP. He said the victims were men and women, and that he had seen a 14-year-old boy among the dead.
In the village of Huta Mezhyhirska, a Ukrainian journalist and father of four was found shot dead wearing his press jacket. Maksim Levin, 40, was killed by Russians with “two shots from small arms”, Ukraine’s prosecutor general’s office said. Ukrainian troops have now regained control of the entire Kyiv region, the Ukrainian government said yesterday. Interfax Ukraine reported last night that Russia believed peace talks had advanced to the stage that Mr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin may soon speak directly. It was not clear where or when, however.
The Red Cross said yesterday that it was renewing evacuation efforts in Mariupol after a team leading a convoy of about 54 Ukrainian buses and other private vehicles was forced to turn back. No one has been able to reach the city, forcing residents to flee in private cars. Some 170,000 people are thought to still be trapped there.
THE fences in Bohdanivka are painted with the Russian words “peaceful people”. The writing, painted in big white letters, is hard to miss.
But it was not enough to protect this town east of Kyiv during three weeks of occupation by Russians.
Every shop showed signs of forced entry, with doors smashed and windows riddled with bullet holes. At an abandoned fighting position in a patch of woods outside the town, a miniature shopping trolley stood next to a foxhole, a few looted items still inside.
Ukrainian territorial defence forces leading journalists through the town said the risk of mines and unexploded ordnance meant leaving the road to look for graves was too dangerous.
But regional mayor Anatoly Bucharov estimated that 20 civilians had been killed by Russians in the area, though he did not provide further details.
Residents claimed that some people had been shot at close range.
“They executed two civilians near here,” a local resident, who gave her name as Alyona, said outside the local school yesterday.
Similar accounts of civilian killings have been corroborated in other areas recently abandoned by Russian forces, who withdrew from several dozen settlements around Kyiv this week.
The bodies of at least 20 men in civilian clothes were found lying in a single street yesterday after Ukrainian forces retook the town of Bucha near Kyiv, some with their arms bound.
“All these people were shot, killed, in the back of the head,” mayor Anatoly Fedoruk told AFP. He said the victims were men and women, and that he had seen a 14-year-old boy among the dead. The mayor also claimed officials had buried almost 300 people in a mass grave.
Settlements such as Bohdanivka, just off the E95 highway into the Ukrainian capital, have recently been liberated from the Russian army, after its attempt to seize Kyiv failed, prompting its troops to withdraw this week.
Ukraine says its troops have retaken control of more than 30 towns and villages in the Kyiv region.
But the aftermath of the weeks of terror is everywhere to see. Dozens of burnt out armoured vehicles, destroyed homes and, according to locals, the bodies of murdered civilians in shallow graves.
Alyona was one of the few residents who remained in Bohdanivka after Russian forces arrived on March 9 and said she and her neighbours lived in terror. “We were hiding in the basement the whole time,” she said, explaining that she had only remained because her husband refused to leave.
Another man who gave his name as Sasha said he had been most concerned about sending his children to safety but afterwards had remained hidden in his own basement as hungry Russian troops prowled the town looking for food and other supplies.
“They were even looking for gasoline for their vehicles,” he said.
Russian forces made their headquarters in the local school, which Alonya said they had set on fire as they departed. Three days later the destroyed structure was still smouldering. Sandbags lined the ground floor windows, where a children’s mobile swayed gently in the breeze.
A burnt-out school bus stood nearby, along with a destroyed quad bike and late-model sedan, both apparently stolen and then abandoned.
While dozens of homes were destroyed by shelling, some of the destruction in the village appeared deliberate, with homes burned or damaged from within.
“They stayed in the big houses and when they left they threw a grenade inside,” said a Ukrainian territorial defence commander who identified himself as General Yevgenich. “They were envious of their quality of life.”
Departing Russian troops had also left booby traps, Ukrainian forces in Bohdanivka said. “We found a grenade with a tripwire in a yard near their HQ,” said Pawel Proskochilo, a local commander. De-mining work meant it was
not yet safe for displaced civilians to return, said Mr Bucharov. “Now we’re checking every building and we’re finding new mines.”
On the main road outside the road, Ukrainian soldiers had left a pile of antitank mines on the verge, a short distance from the decomposing body of a uniformed Russian soldier and several more destroyed armoured vehicles.
Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, yesterday accused Russian soldiers of deliberately mining areas in northern Ukraine as they pulled back from the region.
“They are mining all this territory. Houses are mined, equipment is mined, even the bodies of dead people.
“There are a lot of trip wires, a lot of other dangers.” Mr Zelensky said efforts were ongoing to clear mines and secure the areas, but advised residents who had fled to stay away for now.
“It is still impossible to return to normal life as it was,” he said.
Viacheslav Chaus, the Chernihiv governor, yesterday also accused Russian troops of planting mines as they drew back from positions around the regional capital.
“There are a lot of mines. They [the villages] are strewn with them,” he said on national television.
The emergencies service said more than 1,500 explosives had been found in one day during a search of the village of Dmytrivka, west of the capital.
As journalists went into Dmytrivka on Friday, smoke was still rising from the wrecks of armoured vehicles and the bodies of at least eight Russian soldiers lay in the streets.
Russia’s defence ministry did not reply to a request for comment on the allegations of placing mines.
The casualties of the Russian occupation and the fighting are also starting to become clear.
The bodies of at least 20 men in civilian clothes were found lying in a single street in the town of Bucha after it was retaken by Ukrainian forces.
The corpses were strewn across the road, wearing civilian clothes, with at least three bearing white cloths.
One of the bodies of the men had his hands tied, while another had suffered a large head wound. The bodies appeared to have been lying in the street for several days.