Killings of hundreds of civilians is 'tip of the iceberg' say Ukrainians who believe atrocities were 'much worse' in Borodyanka 14 miles to the west
- **WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT**
- Ukrainian officials have warned the horrific images coming out of Bucha could be just the 'tip of the iceberg'
- Mass graves uncovered in Bucha, city to the west of Kyiv which Russian forces retreated from at the weekend
- One containing the bodies of at least 57 civilians was uncovered in the ground of a church in the city centre
- Satellite images reveal pit was dug some time before March 31, as Putin's men were still in control of the area
- Officials say the bodies of at least 410 civilians have been found in total, with many strewn through the streets
- Ukrainian foreign minister branded Russia 'worse than ISIS' as world leaders called for a war crimes probe
By KATIE FEEHAN and RACHEL BUNYAN and CHRIS PLEASANCE FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 10:29 AEST, 5 April 2022 | UPDATED: 10:52 AEST, 5 April 2022
Ukrainian officials have warned that the slaughter of hundreds of civilians by Russian troops on the outskirts of Kyiv could just be the 'tip of the iceberg' as more allegations of atrocities emerge.
Moscow has been accused of war crimes and genocide after photos emerged from the commuter town of Bucha, near Kyiv, which showed streets littered with the bodies of civilians, many with their hands behind their backs, gunshot wounds and signs of torture.
Ukrainian officials have said at least 410 bodies have been recovered from the region, some of whom had been buried in mass graves while others just lay in the street among the rubble of burnt out Russian tanks and armoured vehicles, abandoned when the troops withdrew last week.
A growing number of world leaders have voiced outrage and called for tougher sanctions against Moscow.
But Ukrainian officials have warned that other areas nearby may have seen worse atrocities and that Bucha could be just the beginning.
Ukrainian prosecutor-general Iryna Venediktova told Ukrainian TV that a 'similar humanitarian situation' to Bucha exists in other parts of the country where Russian forces recently left, such as the areas around the northern cities of Sumy and Chernihiv.
She also said the situation in Borodyanka, which is further from Kyiv and was also held by Russian forces until recently, may be even worse.
Venediktova didn't specify what exactly had happened in Borodyanka but said 'the worst situation in terms of the victims' is there.
Ukrainian officials have warned that the slaughter of hundreds of civilians by Russian troops on the outskirts of Kyiv could just be the 'tip of the iceberg' as more allegations of atrocities emerge. Pictured: A destroyed building in Borodyanka, Ukraine
Pictured: Locals carry a coffin on a wheelbarrow as the city was hit by shelling in the small city of Borodyanka near Kiev
A residential building destroyed by shelling, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Borodyanka in the Kyiv region
Meanwhile, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the evidence of civilian killings was just the 'tip of the iceberg', with Ukrainian forces yet to reach all areas vacated by Russian troops, and showed the need for tougher sanctions on Moscow.
It comes as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed Romania's parliament Monday evening in a video call in which the leader said had Ukraine not defended itself, Russia would have carried out atrocities like that of Bucha 'all over Ukraine.'
Zelenskyy, who was visibly emotional when he visited the town of Bucha on Monday to see the alleged crimes of Russia's forces against Ukrainian civilians, shared grim video footage during his address that showed areas strewn with dead bodies.
'The military tortured people and we have every reason to believe that there are many more people killed,' Zelenskyy said. 'Much more than we know now.'
The Ukrainian leader also called for tougher sanctions, saying 'Russia must be deprived of all resources, primarily economic' and said that the fate of the region will be decided by the outcome of the war in Ukraine.
Before the Ukrainian leader's address, the president of Romania's Chamber of Deputies, Marcel Ciolacu, said the last few days 'have shown us horrible images that have overwhelmed and revolted us all.'
'I support a speedy investigation by the International Criminal Court,' Ciolacu said.
The Ukrainian President appeared overwhelmed during his visit on Monday, admitting he found 'it very difficult to talk when you see what they've done here'.
Atrocities: Burned buildings which was hit by shelling is seen in small city of Borodyanka near Kyiv at the start of the conflict
Devastation: Destroyed Russian tanks and armoured vehicles are seen on the street on April 4, 2022 in Bucha, Ukraine
On the streets of Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, the bodies of civilians have been found scattered, many with bound hands, close-range gunshot wounds and signs of torture, after Russian forces retreated from the area.
Ukraine and Western leaders have accused Russia of carrying out the massacre of civilians and dumping their bodies in mass graves, with one pit in Bucha containing at least 57 people.
Zelensky today said it had become harder for Ukraine to negotiate with Russia since Kyiv became aware of the scale of alleged atrocities carried out by Russian troops in Ukraine.
'These are war crimes and will be recognised by the world as genocide,' Zelenskiy said, wearing body armour and surrounded by military personnel.
'It's very difficult to talk when you see what they've done here,' he said. 'The longer the Russian Federation drags out the meeting process, the worse it is for them and for this situation and for this war.
'We know of thousands of people killed and tortured, with severed limbs, raped women and murdered children,' he said, adding that in Bucha and other towns in the Kyiv region 'dead people have been found in barrels, basements, strangled, tortured'.
Zelensky said that despite the horrific human suffering in Bucha, residents were chipping in together to make sure homeless animals were fed.
'That's a characteristic trait of our people, I think - treat animals the way you would treat humans,' he said. 'But you can see around what was done to this modern town. That's a characteristic of Russian soldiers – treat people worse than animals. That is real genocide, what you have seen here today.'
Ukraine's prosecutor-general said the bodies of 410 civilians, many with bound hands and close-range gunshot wounds, have been recovered from towns surrounding Kyiv after last week's withdrawal of Russian troops.
A mass grave containing the bodies of at least 20 civilians including a mayor and her family were uncovered in woodland near the town of Motzyhn, around 20 miles west of Bucha where another mass grave has been found.
The pit contains the bodies of local mayor Olga Sukhenko who was buried along with her husband and son, according to Ukraine's former ambassador to Austria Olexander Scherba.
WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES
Broken: A visibly emotional President Volodymyr Zelensky yesterday stood motionless as he surveyed the scene of utter devastation he encountered in the town of Bucha, with dozens of bodies shot at close range laying on the empty streets
The Ukrainian President appeared overwhelmed at seeing the carnage in the town, admitting he finds 'it very difficult to talk'
During his visit to Bucha today, Ukraine's President Zelensky said it had become harder for the country to negotiate with Russia since Kyiv became aware of the scale of alleged atrocities carried out by Russian troops in parts of Ukraine
'These are war crimes and will be recognised by the world as genocide,' Zelenskiy said, wearing body armour on his outing
Zelensky said that despite the human suffering, residents were chipping in together to make sure homeless animals were fed
'You can see around what was done to this modern town. That's a characteristic of Russian soldiers – treat people worse than animals. That is real genocide, what you have seen here today,' said President Zelensky, who was visibly emotional
A mass grave containing the bodies of at least 20 civilians including a mayor and her family was found near Motzyhn, 20 miles west of Bucha where another mass grave was found. Zelensky pictured speaking to military personnel in Bucha, near Kyiv
Communal workers carry body bags in the town of Bucha, not far from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on Sunday
A Ukrainian policeman walks by a pit in the village of Motyzhyn, Ukraine, April 3, where the bodies of the mayor of the village, Olga Sukhenko, her husband and son and that of a man believed to be a Ukrainian serviceman, who was not yet identified, lie
Pictured: Black bags containing bodies of civilians, who according to residents were killed by Russian troops, are seen at the cemetery after being picked up from the streets before they are taken to the morgue, in Bucha, in Kyiv region of Ukraine
Volunteers unload bags containing bodies of civilians, who according to residents were killed by Russian army soldiers
The streets of Bucha were littered with the bodies of people (pictured) slain by Russian troops according to local residents
Family: The head of the village of Motyzhyn, Ms Sukhenko (pictured left) had been missing since March 25 when she was reported kidnapped by Russian forces, along with her husband Igor (pictured right) and son Alexander (pictured centre)
Pictured: A satellite image taken on March 31 shows the mass grave - a 45ft-long pit - dug behind the Church of St. Andrew and Pyervozvannoho All Saints in Bucha, during the time that Russian forces were in control of the region
Ms Sukhenko's body had been rolled into the hastily-dug pit alongside at least 19 others including families, some of whom showed signs of torture. Sukhenko was found with her fingers and arms broken, according to the mayor of the nearby town of Kopyliv, while a resident of Motyzhyn said Russian soldiers killed any Ukrainian officials who refused to collaborate.
The mayor and her family had been reported by others as kidnapped by Russians on March 23 and taken in an unknown direction.
It is the second mass grave to be uncovered behind the backs of retreating Russian troops, after a 45ft pit containing the bodies of at least 57 civilians was uncovered in Bucha - a city on the outskirts of Kyiv where hundreds of civilians have been found dead.
The grave had been dug into a grassy area to the rear of the Church of St. Andrew and Pyervozvannoho All Saints in Bucha with Serhii Kaplychnyi, head of the local rescue services, saying at least 57 civilians had been buried in the 45ft pit. Other officials put the total at nearer 300.
Satellite images taken on March 31, while Russian troops were still in control of the area, clearly show the existence of the grave - giving proof to the lie peddled by Moscow that it was dug by Ukrainian forces. Satellite firm Maxar said images taken as far back as March 10 show what appear to be preparations to construct the pit.
Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine's foreign minister, said Russian troops had instigated a 'deliberate massacre' in Bucha and branded them 'worse than ISIS'. Photos from the ground showed bodies left to rot alongside roads, some of them with their hands tied, others piled on top of car tyres as if to be burned. Witnesses gave horrifying accounts of torture and rape by Putin's men.
Footage released by the Ukrainian military showed what appeared to be a 'torture chamber' in a building used as a barracks by Russian troops in Bucha. The bodies of civilians were lined up against a wall in the basement, kneeling, having been killed. At least one had been shot through the knee before being killed, the military said.
Civilian survivors said some bodies left on the streets had been run over by Russian tanks and 'squashed like animal skin rugs'. Others reported seeing soldiers shoot dead elderly civilians in front of their relatives.
Ira Gavriluk holds her cat as she walks next to the corpses of her husband and her brother, who were killed in Bucha
Ms Gavriluk says her husband, brother and another man were killed outsider her home in Bucha by Russian soldiers
Pictured: Burned cars and warehouses near the Antonov airport in Hostomel, outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday April 4
Pictured: Parts of a destroyed aircraft at the Antonov airport in Hostomel, outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine
Harrowing images emerged of a Ukrainian woman, Ira Gavriluk, walking next to the corpses of her husband and her brother who were killed in Bucha.
Footage also emerged of a Ukrainian woman weeping over the body of her daughter, who she says was shot and killed by Russian forces when she went outside to look at a column of Putin's tanks.
Antonina Pomazanko was filmed showing Ukrainian troops the shallow grave where she was forced to bury her daughter under wooden boards.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson led world leaders in condemning the violence at the weekend, pledging to send funding and specialist investigators to the International Criminal Court at The Hague to compile evidence for a war crimes tribunal.
'We will not rest until justice is served,' he vowed, before a spokesman for the PM added: 'It's clear that Putin crossed the threshold of barbarism some time ago.'
'It's certainly evidence that Putin's army is committing war crimes,' the spokesman said, adding that the Government now wants 'to look beyond what we have already provided' in terms of fresh arms shipments to Ukraine.
In a fresh statement shared today, the Prime Minister added: 'The discovery of more mass graves outside Kyiv is sickening. The UK will not stand by whilst this indiscriminate and unforgiveable slaughter takes place.
'We are working to ensure those responsible are held to account. We will not rest until justice is done.'
Ukainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stands in the town of Bucha, northwest of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, on April 4
A mass grave containing the bodies of 20 civilians including a mayor and her family were uncovered near the town of Motzyhn, 20 miles west of Bucha where another mass grave was found. Ukrainian President Zelensky pictured in Bucha today
The Ukrainian President was emotional when witnessing the mass graves, and told press he found it 'difficult to talk'
Ukraine says Russia was responsible for civilian killings in Bucha, outside Kyiv, where bodies were found lying in the street
Zelensky speaking with locals as they receive humanitarian aid in the recaptured Ukrainian city of Bucha, north west of Kyiv
Locals shook hands and took pictures with the President in Bucha on Monday, at a centre providing humanitarian aid
Zelensky shook hands with members of the public who were receiving humanitarian aid in Bucha
The Ukrainian President spoke to journalists in the recaptured city of Bucha, destroyed in the fight against the invasion
The Russian Defence Ministry rejected accusations today that Russian forces left Bucha on March 30, while evidence of killings was presented four days later. Pictured: President Volodymyr Zelensky walked the streets of Bucha on Monday
On the streets of Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, the bodies of civilians have been found scattered, many with bound hands
Bucha was dubbed the 'New Srebrenica' in reference to the 1995 slaughter of 8,000 Muslims during the Bosnian War. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky (pictured) and Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko accused the Russian state of 'genocide'
Zelensky has said he wants Russian mothers to see the bodies of civilians slaughtered in Ukraine at the hands of their sons
In a solemn address published on his official Telegram channel last night, a visibly upset Zelensky spoke about the mass graves discovered on the outskirts of Kyiv and savagely condemned the perpetrators of what he called a 'concentrated evil'
'Whatever equipment we send will obviously allow Ukraine to defend itself. We are aware of the requests from the Ukrainians for equipment to defend themselves from ships and we are looking into what we can do,' he said.
US President Joe Biden today again lambasted Putin as a 'war criminal' as he described the killing of civilians in Bucha as a 'war crime'.
'This guy is brutal, and what's happening in Bucha is outrageous and everyone sees it,' Biden said as he called for a war crimes trial over the alleged atrocities against civilians and promised to add to the economic sanctions on Moscow.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the European Union was ready to send a team of investigators to gather evidence of possible war crimes.
Meanwhile, Putin's invasion has suffered another devastating blow after his force's death toll rose to 18,300, according to Kyiv's estimates today.
Russia has only admitted 1,351 of its troops have died fighting in Ukraine since Putin invaded on February 24, a fraction of the figure estimated by Ukraine's armed forces.
In a further blow to Putin's war, Ukrainian forces have also retaken some towns in the northern Chernihiv region, whilst Russian forces no longer occupied any areas in the Sumy region, in Ukraine's northeast. The governor of Ukraine's northern region of Zhytomyr also said there were no longer any Russian troops in the region, which lies west of Kyiv on the border with Belarus.
'They left, leaving part of their vehicles, leaving part of their munitions,' Governor Vitaliy Bunechko said in an online post.
Ukrainian soldiers also blitzed a Russian military convoy in an effort to disrupt deliveries of fuel and supplies to Putin's troops on the frontline, with video showing a military tanker being hit by what appears to be a rocket before bursting into flames.
But Russian attacks on civilian areas have continued, with eight people killed and 34 wounded after shelling hit the southern Ukrainian cities of Mykolaiv and Ochakiv on Sunday, prosecutors in Kyiv said.
Russia has repositioned about two thirds of its forces from around Kyiv, with many consolidating in Belarus where they are expected to be refit, resupplied and redeployed elsewhere in Ukraine, a senior U.S. defense official said on Monday.
Over the weekend, Ukraine said its forces had seized back all areas around Kyiv, claiming complete control of the capital region for the first time since Russia launched the invasion.
A mass grave was discovered in the grounds of the Church of St. Andrew and Pyervozvannoho All Saints in Bucha
Pictured: Another view of the mass grave discovered close to a church in Bucha, which was uncovered by Ukrainian forces
A man and two women weep as they stand at a mass grave filled with bodies of Ukrainian civilians dug into church grounds
Dead bodies litter the streets of Bucha, a suburb of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, after Russian forces withdrew from the region
A van with 'children' written on it - intended as a warning to Russian troops - is seen riddled with bullet holes in Bucha
Russian forces, which occupied areas to the west of Kyiv since the early days of the war, withdrew at the weekend
Pictured: Harrowing footage emerged of a Ukrainian woman weeping over the body of her daughter, who she says was shot and killed by Russian forces when she went outside to look at a column of Putin's tanks and was buried in a shallow grave
Antonina Pomazanko was filmed showing Ukrainian troops the shallow grave where she was forced to bury her daughter
Ukrainian volunteers load the body of a civilian, allegedly killed by Russian forces, into the back of a make-shift ambulance
The corpse of a civilian, killed while riding their bicycle, was among hundreds of bodies uncovered by Ukrainian forces
A civilian walks along a street littered with the remains of Russian tanks and vehicles after the city of Bucha was recaptured
What happened at the Srebrenica massacre?
The Srebrenica massacre refers to a genocidal atrocity which saw more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys killed.
The slaughter took place in the town of Srebrenica, a town in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The massacre took place during the Bosnian War in July 1995 and was perpetuated by the Bosnian Serb Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) under the command of Ratko Mladic.
It has widely been condemned as the worst episode of mass murder within Europe since the Second World War and helped galvanize the West to press for a ceasefire that ended three years of warfare.
On July 11, thousands of Bosniak men left Srebrenica in an attempt to reach safety but the following morning Bosnian Serb forces made false promises to encourage them to surrender.
Thousands gave themselves up or were captured and many were subsequently executed.
The women, children and elderly were placed aboard buses and driven to Bosniak-held territory.
Mass executions of men and boys began on the evening of July 13.
The executions continued at least through July 16, when hundreds of people were reportedly shot at a state farm in the village of Branjevo.
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Tymofiy Mylovanov, an adviser to President Zelensky and Ukraine's former finance minister, said even worse atrocities may have been perpetrated to the east of Kyiv in the suburb of Brovary and in villages along the highway to Chernihiv - a city near the Russian border - and has called on journalists and lawyers to go to the region to help document what has happened.
Mylovanov said early eyewitness accounts and anecdotal evidence suggest children may have been burned alive, young women raped en-masse and then executed afterwards, and people forced to eat their pets after being deliberately starved by Russian troops. Others may have been shot dead as they planted crops in the fields or killed in their gardens, he said.
Ukraine's foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba added that the situation in the besieged city of Mariupol was likely to be worse than Bucha, and called for more weapons to push the Russian army out of Ukraine's east, warning that those who denied his country help would 'share responsibility' for civilian deaths.
Of the harrowing images from Bucha, he said: 'Bucha massacre was deliberate. Russians aim to eliminate as many Ukrainians as they can.'
Former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch told MSNBC that the alleged massacre of civilians was 'an unspeakable horror', adding: 'My heart really goes out to everyone in Ukraine... I think it is clear what we're going to find [in Mariupol].. and it is going to be probably even worse than Bucha.'
Ukrainian prosecutors said they had found 410 bodies in towns near the capital Kyiv. They said some witnesses were too traumatised to speak.
Two mass graves were discovered in Bucha, one of more than 30 towns and suburbs liberated in recent days.
Bodies of civilians, their hands bound and bullet wounds in the back of their heads, littered the streets of the small commuter town north of Kyiv.
Survivors emerging from basements after weeks underground told of summary executions, sexual violence and terror not seen since Joseph Stalin's Soviet rule of terror in the 1930s.
Bucha was dubbed the 'New Srebrenica' in reference to the 1995 slaughter of 8,000 Muslims during the Bosnian War. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko accused the Russian state of 'genocide'.
The UK, France and Germany, along with the NATO Secretary General, on Sunday night called for an international probe to be opened into allegations of Russian 'war crimes'. Meanwhile, Estonian prime minister Kaja Kallas declared: 'It's not a battlefield, it's a crime scene' in reference to the horrific images.
The Ukrainian Parliament posted a tweet showcasing the reactions of various newspapers and world media to the shockign discoveries
Meanwhile, Ukraine's defence ministry tweeted footage of the scenes, also comparing the harrowing images to the 1995 murders of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Bosnia.
It said: 'New Srebrenica. The city of Bucha was in the hands of animals for several weeks.
'I want every mother of every Russian soldier to see the bodies of the dead', says Zelensky
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he wants Russian mothers to see the bodies of civilians slaughtered in Ukraine at the hands of their sons.
In a solemn presidential address published on his official Telegram channel last night, a visibly upset Zelensky spoke about the mass graves discovered on the outskirts of Kyiv and savagely condemned the perpetrators of what he called a 'concentrated evil'.
It comes as scores of corpses were found over the weekend in several towns just north of the capital, where Russian troops had waged war against Ukraine's armed forces and territorial defence units before retreating last week.
'I want every mother of every Russian soldier to see the bodies of those killed in Bucha, Irpin and Hostomel. Why were innocent civilians in a peaceful town tortured to death?', the President asked.
'How could women be raped in front of their children? How could they be strangled after having their earrings ripped out? What did the people of the Ukrainian city Bucha do to you?'
Zelensky went on to address Russian mothers personally, telling them that their children 'have no heart, no soul, and killed deliberately, with pleasure,' before directing his ire towards former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former French President Nicholas Sarkozy.
The pair represented the European contingent of NATO at a meeting in Bucharest 14 years ago on April 3, 2008, in which it was declared that Ukraine could become a member of the security bloc.
But in the years that followed, Ukraine was never offered membership and still remains in the so called 'grey area' between Europe and Russia - something Zelensky argued is down to Merkel and Sarkozy's 'absurd fear of Russia' and led to the deaths of thousands of Ukrainian civilians.
Angela Merkel's office meanwhile said the former German chancellor stands by decisions made in 2008 not to put Ukraine directly on track to join NATO, but insisted that all efforts to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression had her full support.
Targeting the former European leaders, Zelensky said: 'They thought that by refusing Ukraine, they would be able to appease Russia. Now we are fighting for our lives the in most horrific war in Europe since WWII.
'I invite Mrs Merkel and Mr Sarkozy to visit Bucha and see what the policy of their concessions to Russia has led to in the last 14 years,' he quipped.
'I want to be understood correctly - we do not blame the West, we only blame the Russian military who did this against our people... But we have the right to talk about indecision.
'We shouldn't have had to ask for help, for weapons to defend ourselves against the evil that came to our country. These should have been given to us anyway, without request.'
'Civilians were being executed arbitrarily, some with hands tied behind their backs, their bodies scattered in the streets of the city.'
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi on Monday condemned the 'exceptionally cruel' violence against civilians near Kyiv in an apparent reference to killings in the town of Bucha.
'I am deeply shocked by news of the exceptionally cruel acts of violence against civilians near Kyiv,' Hayashi told reporters alongside his Polish counterpart in Warsaw.
'The murder of innocent civilians is a violation of international humanitarian law and is unacceptable and I strongly condemn these acts,' he added.
'The Russian assault is a blatant violation of international law and an attempt to unilaterally change the status quo through the use of force.'
Earlier Monday the Kremlin rejected accusations that Russian forces were responsible for killing civilians near Kyiv and suggested images of corpses were 'fakes'.
Moscow was also caught censoring the horrific images of Bucha from Russian people who use the country's Yandex search engine, with the Ukrainian town's buildings appearing unscathed by the carnage unleashed by Putin's forces.
Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau for his part stressed the importance of diplomacy in ending the war.
'The only way to resolve the conflict has been, is and will continue to be diplomacy and dialogue,' he said.
'We regret that Russia chose the path of aggression and war instead of dialogue and diplomacy.'
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov rejected the allegations of Russian troops killing civilians in Bucha, describing the scenes outside Kyiv as a 'stage-managed anti-Russian provocation.'
European leaders, meanwhile, left no doubt about who they thought was behind the killings.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said 'the Russian authorities are responsible for these atrocities, committed while they had effective control of the area.'
'The perpetrators of war crimes and other serious violations as well as the responsible government officials and military leaders will be held accountable,' he added.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday that there is 'clear evidence of war crimes' in Bucha that demand new measures. 'I'm in favour of a new round of sanctions and in particular on coal and petrol. We need to act,' he said on France-Inter radio.
Taras Kuzio, research fellow at human rights group the Henry Jackson Society, said: 'The Soviet looting of eastern Europe and Germany during World War Two is repeated in Ukraine. Reminiscent of Stalin's Great Terror, 300 men and boys as young as 14 were murdered by Russian soldiers in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha.
'Soviet soldiers raped upwards of two million German women of all ages during World War Two. Russian soldiers are raping Ukrainian women and girls as young as ten. It is time for the West to stop Putin.'
Mr Zelensky said: 'This is genocide. The elimination of the whole nation and the people.'
Mr Klitschko said pictures of the devastation were 'painful to see'. He added: 'They are killing civilians, they kill children, women.'
Fears of a genocidal plot grew as it was claimed Russia adopted a 'state technical standard for digging and maintaining mass graves' weeks before the invasion.
Troops were taught how to build the huge burial grounds for 1,000 corpses in just three days in a policy that came into effect on February 1 – three weeks before they marched on Ukraine.
Observers fear it could suggest Putin had 'planned genocide' in Ukraine on a scale 'unseen since World War Two'.
Russia pulled out of the cities of Kyiv and Chernihiv on Friday, retreating up to 25 miles in places and losing more than 30 towns in a significant victory for Ukraine.
But as the survivors emerged from their hiding places underground, their stories and the untold destruction surrounding them laid bare the horrors of the Russian occupation.
Between mangled tanks and ruined houses, bodies lined the streets of Bucha, a suburban town of 28,000 residents before the war.
Pictures too distressing to publish showed the body of one man bound and discarded in a sewer.
Four people, all thought to be civilians, were found dead under a blanket on the side of a highway close to Bucha, Ukraine
A member of a civilian defence force looks under a blanket where four people, all thought to be civilians, were found dead
A Ukrainian serviceman uses a piece of wood to check if the body of a man dressed in civilian clothing is booby-trapped
A Ukrainian ambulance sits on the streets of Hostomel, north-west of Kyiv, after the region was recaptured by Russian forces
A car with multiple signs saying 'children' in Russian as a warning to Putin's forces not to shoot is shown shot to pieces
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