410 bodies found in town retaken from Russian troops, says Ukraine

By Handan Kazanci

ISTANBUL (AA) - At least 410 civilian bodies were recovered in the town of Bucha near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, Ukraine's prosecutor-general said on Sunday.

"Currently, 410 bodies of killed civilians have been taken out of the territory of Kyiv region," Iryna Venediktova said on Facebook, according to the country's state news agency Ukrinform.

"Prosecutors and other specialists have already examined 140 of them," said Venediktova, noting that an investigation was ongoing.

On Sunday, the Russian Defense Ministry denied that its troops killed civilians while withdrawing from towns near Kyiv.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called on the international organizations to send their experts to the country as soon as possible to collect evidence of war crimes committed by the Russian troops.

On Saturday, Mikhail Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said bodies of people with their tied hands and shot dead by Russian troops "lie in the streets" in Bucha.

The Russian war against Ukraine, which started on Feb. 24, has been met with international outrage, with the EU, US, and Britain, among others, implementing tough financial sanctions on Moscow.

At least 1,417 civilians have been killed in Ukraine and 2,038 injured, according to UN estimates, with the true figure feared to be far higher.

More than 4.1 million Ukrainians have also fled to other countries, with millions more internally displaced, according to the UN refugee agency.