10th April, 2022
Another grave with dozens of Ukrainian civilians has been found in Buzova village near Kyiv, an official said.
It was the latest reported mass grave to be discovered as Russian forces retreat from their offensive on the capital and focus their assault on the east.
Taras Didych, head of the Dmytrivka community that includes Buzova, told Ukrainian television that the bodies were found in a ditch near a petrol station.
The number of dead had yet to be confirmed.
“Now we are returning to life but during the occupation we had our ‘hotspots’, many civilians died,” Didych said on Saturday.
Mounting civilian casualties have triggered a new wave of international condemnation, in particular over hundreds of deaths in the town of Bucha, to the northwest of Kyiv that until last week was occupied by Russian forces.
Ukraine and the West have accused Russian forces of war crimes in Bucha.
Russia has denied targeting civilians in what it calls a “special operation” to demilitarize and “denazify” its southern neighbour.
Ukraine and Western nations have dismissed this as a baseless pretext for war.
Russia has failed to take one major city since the start of the invasion on Feb. 24 but Ukraine says Russia is gathering its forces in the east for a major assault and has urged people to flee.