Civilian killings near Kyiv: Global outrage spreads

Global outrage spread yesterday at civilian killings in north Ukraine, including evidence of bound bodies shot at close range and a mass grave found in areas retaken from Russian troops, as fighting raged on in the country's south and east.

Taras Shapravskyi, deputy mayor of Bucha, a town around 40 km northwest of Kyiv city, said 50 of some 300 bodies found after Kremlin forces withdrew late last week were the victims of extra-judicial killings carried out by Russian troops.

Ukrainian authorities said they were investigating possible war crimes there, a description also used by French President Emmanuel Macron. The Kremlin categorically denied any accusations related to the murder of civilians in the town.

Reuters reporters in Bucha saw one man sprawled by the roadside, his hands tied behind his back and a bullet wound to his head. A mass grave at a church remained open, with hands and feet poking through red clay heaped on top.

Pictures of the destruction and civilian deaths in Bucha looked set to galvanise the United States and Europe into fresh sanctions against Moscow.

The images were also poised to overshadow peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, due to restart by video link yesterday against a backdrop of artillery bombardments in Ukraine's south and east, where Russia says it is now focusing its operations after withdrawing from around Kyiv.

Ukrainian television showed smoking fuel tanks and fire trucks near the Black Sea port of Odesa.

In Mariupol, another strategic southern port that has been under siege and shelled for weeks, the skeletal remains of residential tower blocks and other buildings surrounded by white cement dust and debris dominated the skyline, Reuters images showed.

Ukraine says it has evacuated thousands of civilians in recent days from the city, a main target for Russia's current offensive and surrounded by areas in the hands of Russian-backed separatists in the Donbas region.

Ukraine was preparing for what its general staff said were about 60,000 Russian reservists called in to reinforce the offensive there, while British military intelligence also said Russian troops, including contractors from the Wagner private military company, were moving to the east.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Russian President Vladimir Putin and his supporters would "feel the consequences" of events in Bucha.

Western allies would agree on further sanctions against Moscow in coming days, he said, though it was not clear how quickly a new package could come together or if it would include Russian energy exports.

France's Macron said new sanctions were needed, including on oil and coal, and there were very "clear clues pointing to war crimes" by Russian forces.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken described the images from Bucha as "a punch in the gut," while United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an independent investigation.

The UN Security Council will discuss Ukraine today, said Britain's mission to the United Nations, which holds the presidency of the 15-member council for April.