BUCHA, Ukraine (AP) – Six stacked charred bodies were examined on Tuesday in Bucha, the city outside of Kyiv where clear evidence of murder and torture has surfaced after Russian forces withdrew.
It was not clear who the people were or under what circumstances they were killed. One was likely a child, said Kyiv region police chief Andrii Nebytov. One had a gunshot wound to the head.
The pile of bodies, seen by Associated Press journalists, was located just off a residential street near a colorful and empty playground and was visible to passers-by as they cautiously went outside to get help. It was just the latest gruesome scene to emerge from Bucha as world leaders pushed for Russia to be held accountable.
“It’s terrible,” said Ukraine’s Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky at the scene, along with other journalists. The minister said Russian President Vladimir Putin should “go to hell”.
The AP has seen dozens of bodies around Bucha, where Russian forces have been retreating for the past week. Images of some of the bodies with their arms tied have horrified the world. Many of the victims seen by AP appeared to have been shot at close range, some in the head. At least two had their hands tied.
High-resolution satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies showed many of the bodies lay in the open for weeks while Russian forces were in the city.
Ukrainian officials said the bodies of at least 410 civilians have been found in towns around Kyiv that have been retaken by Russian forces in recent days. Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office has described a room discovered in Bucha as a “torture chamber”.
The grisly images of battered or burned bodies left in the open or hastily buried have prompted calls for tougher sanctions against the Kremlin, particularly a halt to fuel imports from Russia. Germany and France responded by expelling dozens of Russian diplomats who suggested they were spies, and US President Joe Biden said Putin should be tried for war crimes.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy left Kyiv this week on his first reported trip since the war began nearly six weeks ago to see for himself what he called the “genocide” and “war crimes” committed in Bucha.
A month ago, the chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague launched an investigation into possible war crimes in Ukraine.