The death toll doubles that announced by the Ukrainian authorities almost two weeks ago.
AP | Russia issued the warning as it continues to prepare a new offensive in eastern Ukraine
More than 900 bodies of civilians have been discovered in the region around the Ukrainian capital of kyiv following the withdrawal of Russian forces, most of them with gunshot wounds, police said on Friday, in an indication that many people were “simply executed”.
The death toll doubles that announced by the Ukrainian authorities almost two weeks ago.
Andriy Nebytov, head of the kyiv regional police, said the bodies were left in the streets or given temporary burial. He cited police data indicating that 95% died from gunshot wounds.
“Consequently, we understand that under the (Russian) occupation, people were simply executed in the streets,” Nebytov said.
Every day more bodies are found, under rubble and in mass graves, he added. He said that the largest number of victims was found in Bucha, where there were more than 350.
According to Nebytov, Bucha utility workers collected and buried the bodies in the kyiv suburb while it remained under Russian control. Russian troops, he added, were “hunting down” people who expressed strong pro-Ukrainian views.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry has vowed to increase missile strikes once morest the Ukrainian capital in response to alleged Ukrainian aggression on Russian territory, an ominous warning that came following the loss of its flagship in the Black Sea.
The threat to intensify attacks on the Ukrainian capital came following Russian officials accused Ukraine of injuring seven people and damaging some 100 residential buildings with airstrikes in Bryansk, a region bordering Ukraine. Authorities in another Russian border region also reported Ukrainian shelling on Thursday.
“The number and scale of missile strikes once morest targets in kyiv will intensify in response to the nationalist regime in kyiv committing any terrorist attack or diversion on Russian territory,” Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.
Russia issued the warning as it continues to prepare a new offensive in eastern Ukraine. Meanwhile, residents of the hard-hit city of Mariupol in the country’s southeast reported seeing Russian soldiers digging up bodies.
In kyiv, the resumption of the bombing might mean the return of the anti-aircraft sirens that were heard during the first days of the invasion and the fearsome nights of sheltering in subway stations.
Timid signs of pre-war life have resurfaced in the capital following Russian troops failed to capture the city and retreated to concentrate on eastern Ukraine, leaving behind evidence of possible war crimes.
Ukrainian officials did not confirm the attacks on targets in Russia, and the Russian authorities’ reports might not be independently verified.
However, Ukraine did claim an attack on a major Moscow warship the day before. If true, Wednesday’s attack on the Moskva guided-missile ship, named following the Russian capital, would represent a significant victory for Ukraine and a symbolic defeat for Russia.
The United States believes that the Russian military ship that sank the day before in the northern Black Sea was hit by at least one Ukrainian missile, as claimed by the kyiv government, a senior US defense official said on Friday.
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