Images of corpses on the streets and in mass graves generate outrage. Zelensky warns that Russian invaders would have mined liberated cities. Moscow interprets withdrawal as a goodwill gesture for peace talks. As Ukrainian military forces gradually retake areas around Kiev previously occupied by Russian troops, shocking scenes unfold. In the suburb of Bucha, 37 kilometers southwest of the capital, numerous corpses of Russian civilians and soldiers line the streets.
Journalists from the French news agency AFP counted at least 20 bodies in just one street. “All these were shot,” commented Mayor Anatoly Fedoruk, adding that 300 residents were killed in a month of Russian occupation, with at least 280 buried in mass graves elsewhere in the city.
Reuters reporters saw the hands and feet of victims sticking out of a ditch still digging into the church grounds. His colleagues at the Associated Press (AP) also recorded civilian casualties along a road and in the backyard of a house. “They were just walking, and then they shot at them for no reason,” commented a resident of Bucha, accusing retreating Russian troops of indiscriminate killings.
“These bastards!” exclaimed Vasily, 66, to Reuters, crying with rage as he contemplated more than a dozen corpses on the road where his home is. “Sorry. The battle tank was firing. Dogs!”
The images quickly spread through social media, triggering outrage, also among foreign authorities. British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Liz Truss said she was horrified by the atrocities in Bucha and reinforced the call for the International Criminal Court to investigate potential war crimes in Ukraine. Moscow denies targeting civilians and rejects any allegation of war crimes.
Explosive traps in liberated cities
Ukrainian officials said Saturday that the national army had liberated more than 30 towns and villages around Kiev, taking complete control over the region for the first time in more than five weeks since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion.
Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Maliar announced on Facebook: “Irpin, Bucha, Gostomel and the entire Kiev region have been cleared from the invader.” However, the mentioned localities are devastated or seriously damaged by the fighting.
In a video message, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned: “They are mining all this territory. The houses are mined, the equipment, even the corpses of the victims.” According to the president, the intention would be to leave behind a “catastrophic” situation.
The country’s emergency service claims to have found more than 1,500 explosives in just one day during searches in the town of Dmytrivka, west of Kiev.
Kremlin: Withdrawal as “Gesture of Goodwill”
As they withdraw from some areas in the north, where they have suffered heavy casualties, Putin’s troops appear to be concentrated in eastern and southern Ukraine, where they already occupy large territories.
“Russia is prioritizing a different tactic: retreat to the east and south,” said presidential consultant Mykhaylo Podolyak on social media, adding: “Without heavy weapons, we will not be able to expel them.”
For its part, Russia interprets the withdrawal from the Kiev area as a goodwill gesture towards peace negotiations. Both sides described the most recent conferences, in late March, in the Turkish city of Istanbul and by video, as “difficult”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented that “the important thing is for the talks to continue, in Istanbul or elsewhere.” A new round was not announced, but Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia said on Saturday that enough progress had already been made to allow direct dialogue between Presidents Zelensky and Putin. The Kremlin has not commented on this possibility.
av (Reuters,AP,AFP,Lusa,ots)
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