Andriy Nebytov, head of the Kyiv regional police force, said the bodies had been abandoned on the streets or temporarily buried. About 95 percent died from the shootings, he added. “Consequently, we understand that under the occupation, people were simply executed on the streets,” Mr Nebytov said. More bodies are found every day, under rubble and in mass graves, he added. Most of the victims were found in Bucha, where there are more than 350 bodies, the police chief said. The discovery of other bodies comes after Ukrainian authorities first found mass graves in Bukha earlier this month, sparking strong international condemnation. During a visit to the country on Wednesday, the attorney general of the International Criminal Court (ICC) said there were “reasonable grounds” to believe war crimes had been committed in Ukraine. Women clean a building with a damaged facade in the military-industrial complex of the company Vizar, after the site was hit by Russian bombs overnight, in the city of Vyshneve, southwestern suburbs of Kiev (AFP via Getty Images) Ukrainian leaders have warned that an even greater number of civilians could be found in Mariupol, which has been under siege for weeks by Russian forces, who have blocked aid and evacuation convoys. Mariupol residents say they saw Russian troops digging up corpses in an alleged attempt to cover up war crimes Forces in Ukraine said on Friday that they were trying to break the siege of Mariupol by Russian forces and that fighting was raging around the city’s steelworks and the port of Illich. This map shows the extent of the Russian invasion of Ukraine (Press Association Pictures) Mariupol used to house 400,000 people before the war, but has been reduced to rubble in seven weeks of siege and bombing, with tens of thousands trapped inside. There is a serious shortage of water, food and medicine in the city. “The situation in Mariupol is difficult and harsh. The battles are taking place right now. “The Russian army is constantly calling for additional units to invade the city,” said Defense Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk. “But as of now the Russians have not been able to fully understand it,” he told a television news conference. Meanwhile, Russian bombardment hit a residential area of the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Friday, killing seven people, including a small child, and injuring 34 others, the governor said. The Independent has a proud campaign history for the rights of the most vulnerable and we first launched our “Welcome Refugees” campaign during the war in Syria in 2015. Now, as we renew our campaign and start this report on In the wake of the unfolding Ukrainian crisis, we call on the government to move faster and faster to secure aid. To learn more about our Refugee Campaign, click here. To sign the application click here. If you would like to donate, click here for our GoFundMe page.
