The bodies of three men were found in a pit near Bucha, a few miles west of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, with signs that civilians were “tortured to death” by Russian troops, police said. regional chief said Saturday.
Police chief Andriy Nebytov said in a YouTube video that the victims’ bodies were discovered Friday in a forest in the village of Myrotke and their bodies showed signs of mutilation.
“Just by looking at it, we can tell that people have been tortured. They were simply shot,” said Mr. Nebytov say in the video, which seems to show the graves of the men and their bodies blurred out. The Times could not independently verify the details.
Since the Russian invasion began in late February, Bucha has been the site of some of the worst atrocities of the war, with civilians bearing the brunt of the attack there. New York Times reporters and photographers record the bodies of dozens of people killing in their homes and in the woods, and even setting fires in an empty parking lot.
The evidence shows that the Russian military kills people recklessly and sometimes brutally. Hundreds of civilian bodies were discovered after the army finally withdrew at the end of March.
This week, Ukrainian officials identity announcement of 10 Russian soldiers they say committed war crimes in the city. Russian officials have denied their troops committed any war crimes in Bucha, calling the images and eyewitness accounts fake.
Earlier this month, President Vladimir V. Putin bestowed honor of the unit in Bucha, the 64th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade, praising its “skillful and determined actions”.
According to Mr. Nebytov, more than 1,200 civilian bodies have been found and autopsied by investigators in the Kyiv region since the war began.
David Kurkovskiy contributed research.
