That is double the number announced by the Ukrainian authorities two weeks ago. Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry promised to intensify missile attacks in Kyiv in response to Ukraine’s alleged aggression on Russian soil. Following the loss of Moscow’s flagship in the Black Sea, which a senior US defense official said on Friday was hit by at least one Ukrainian missile. Andriy Nebytov, head of the Kyiv regional police force, said that around Kyiv, corpses were abandoned on the street or temporarily buried. He cited police figures showing that 95% had died from gunshots. “As a result, we understand that under the occupation, people were simply executed on the streets,” Nebytov said. More bodies were found every day, under rubble and in mass graves, he said. The largest number of victims was found in Bouha, where there were over 350. According to Nebytov, employees of utilities in Bucha collected and buried corpses in the suburbs of Kiev while remaining under Russian control. He said Russian troops were “locating” people who expressed strong pro-Ukrainian views. There could be further attacks in Kyiv after Russian authorities accused Ukraine of injuring seven people and damaging about 100 residential buildings in airstrikes in Bryansk, an area bordering Ukraine. Authorities in another Russian border area also reported Ukrainian bombing on Thursday. “The number and scale of rocket attacks on objects in Kyiv will increase in response to the nationalist regime in Kiev committing terrorist attacks or diversions on Russian territory,” said Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov. Ukrainian officials have not confirmed targets in Russia and the reports could not be verified by an independent. However, Ukrainian officials said their forces had hit a key Russian warship with missiles. And after the Pentagon said it could not confirm the allegation, a senior U.S. defense official said he now believes Moskva was hit by at least one rocket and possibly two on Wednesday, causing a large fire on the ship. The official spoke on condition of anonymity.
