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A mass grave with bodies of at least 57 people was found at Bucha, a town near Ukraine’s capital Kyiv as Russian forces retreated from parts of the east European nation, officials said on Sunday amid widespread condemnation from Western nations and Nato.
Bucha was recently taken back by Ukrainian troops from their Russian counterparts. An AFP report said there was a slit trench where the bodies laid and the grave was behind a church in the town centre.
“Here in this long grave, 57 people are buried,” Serhii Kaplychnyi, who identified himself as head of the rescue services in Bucha, was quoted as saying by AFP.
Also read | Ukraine accuses Russia of ‘war crimes’, ‘genocide’ after corpses found near Kyiv
The report further said roughly 10 bodies were visible, either unburied or partially covered by the earth. Some of the bodies were concealed in black zip-up body bags while others were in civilian clothing. Report on the fresh massacre emerged a day after at least 20 bodies, all in civilian clothing, were found lying strewn across a single stretch of a road in the town.
Ukraine has accused Russian forces of a “deliberate massacre” in Bucha. One had his hands tied behind his back with a white cloth, and his Ukrainian passport left open beside his body.
Also read | ‘Rapid retreat of Russians from Kyiv but…’: Ukraine official’s warning
The NATO chief called civilian killings in Bucha, while Germany said it was a “terrible war crime”, while calling for fresh EU sanctions against Russia.
The UK called for the “appalling acts” to be investigated as war crimes.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken said the sight of multiple civilian bodies strewn along the streets was “punch to the gut.” “This is the reality of what’s going on every single day as long as Russia’s brutality against Ukraine continues,” Blinken told CNN.
(With inputs from agencies)
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