More than 900 civilian bodies found in Kyiv region, says Ukraine police

Andriy Nebytov, head of Kyiv’s regional police force, said the bodies were abandoned in the streets or given temporary burials.

Ukrainian investigators exhume bodies from a mass grave in the grounds of the St Andrew church in the town of Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, on April 8, 2022. | Photo Credit: AFP

More than 900 civilian bodies have been discovered in the region surrounding the Ukrainian capital following the withdrawal of Russian forces — most of them fatally shot, police said Friday, an indication that many people were "simply executed.”

The number of dead is double that announced by Ukrainian authorities almost two weeks ago.

Andriy Nebytov, the head of Kyiv’s regional police force, said the bodies were abandoned in the streets or given temporary burials. He cited police data indicating that 95% died from gunshot wounds.

“Consequently, we understand that under the (Russian) occupation, people were simply executed in the streets,” Nebytov said.

More bodies are being found every day, under rubble and in mass graves, he added.

The largest number of victims were found in Bucha, where there were more than 350, he said.

According to Nebytov, utilities workers in Bucha gathered and buried bodies in the Kyiv suburb while it remained under Russian control. Russian troops, he added, were “tracking down” people who expressed strong pro-Ukrainian views.

Meanwhile, Russia’s Defense Ministry promised to ramp up missile attacks on the Ukrainian capital in response to Ukraine’s alleged aggression on Russian territory, an ominous warning that followed Moscow's stinging loss of its flagship in the Black Sea.

The threat of intensified attacks on Kyiv came after Russian authorities accused Ukraine of wounding seven people and damaging about 100 residential buildings with airstrikes in Bryansk, a region bordering Ukraine. Authorities in another border region of Russia also reported Ukrainian shelling Thursday.

“The number and the scale of missile attacks on objects in Kyiv will be ramped up in response to the Kyiv nationalist regime committing any terrorist attacks or diversions on the Russian territory,” Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.

Russia issued the warning while it continues to prepare for a renewed offensive in eastern Ukraine. Meanwhile, locals in the pummeled southeastern city of Mariupol reported seeing Russian troops digging up bodies.

In Kyiv, a renewed bombardment could mean a return to the steady wail of air raid sirens heard during the early days of the invasion and to fearful nights sheltering in subway stations. Tentative signs of pre-war life have resurfaced in the capital after Russian troops failed to capture the city and retreated to concentrate on eastern Ukraine, leaving behind evidence of possible war crimes.

Ukrainian officials have not confirmed striking targets in Russia, and the reports could not be independently verified.

However, Ukrainian officials said their forces did strike a key Russian warship with missiles. If true, the reported Wednesday attack on the guided-missile cruiser Moskva, named for the Russian capital, would represent an important victory for Ukraine and a symbolic defeat for Russia.

The warship sank while being towed to port Thursday after suffering heavy damage under circumstances that remained in dispute. Moscow acknowledged a fire on board but not any attack. U.S. and other Western officials could not confirm what caused the blaze.

The Moskva had the capacity to carry 16 long-range cruise missiles. If Ukrainian forces took out the vessel, it was likely the largest warship to be sunk in combat since 1982. A British submarine torpedoed an Argentine navy cruiser called the ARA General Belgrano during the Falklands War, killing over 300 sailors.

The sinking of the Russian warship reduces Russia’s firepower in the Black Sea, although military analysts disagreed on the event's significance to the course of the war. Either way, the loss was viewed as emblematic of Moscow's fortunes in a seven-week invasion widely seen as a historic blunder following the retreat from the Kyiv region and much of northern Ukraine.

“A ‘flagship’ russian warship is a worthy diving site. We have one more diving spot in the Black Sea now. Will definitely visit the wreck after our victory in the war,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov tweeted Friday in a boast.

In his nightly address Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Ukrainians they should be proud of having survived 50 days under Russian attack when the invaders “gave us a maximum of five.”