Woman waits for bodies of her sister and nephew to be found in rubble of bombed flats after dying civilians lay begging for help for a WEEK as Russian forces banned rescue efforts - exposing the sick lies of Putin's spin doctor about 'FAKE war crimes'
By DANYAL HUSSAIN FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 06:20 AEST, 8 April 2022 | UPDATED: 06:22 AEST, 8 April 2022
A shocking photo of a woman waiting for the bodies of her sister and nephew to be found in the rubble of bombed flats has been shared by Ukrainian government sources, exposing the lies of Putin's spin doctor who ranted about 'fake' war crimes in a TV interview.
The photo, taken in Borodyanka, a town near Kyiv, shows the woman sitting on a chair as rescuers desperately comb for survivors.
According to locals, the Russians blocked rescue efforts, leaving people buried under rubble for a week before Putin's forces eventually withdrew.
The identity of the woman is unclear, although Ukrainian sources say she is named Liudmyla and is from the town. Rescuers are said to have brought her a chair because she has been standing there for three days waiting. The building was destroyed on March 1.
The shocking images come as Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov repeatedly refused to admit any wrongdoing and described footage of war crimes committed by Russian soldiers in Ukraine as 'fake' and 'lies'
He rejected allegations of a massacre in the Ukrainian town of Bucha as 'a well-staged insinuation', claiming that bodies found in the streets were placed after Russian troops withdrew.
'We are living in days of fakes and lies which we meet every day,' he said, speaking in English by video link from Moscow.
'We deny the Russian military can have something in common with these atrocities and that dead bodies were shown on the streets of Bucha.'
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.
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.
A woman waits for her family to be unearthed from under the rubble in Borodyanka, a town near Kyiv recently occupied by the Russian army
In a wide-ranging interview, Peskov repeatedly refused to admit any wrongdoing on Russia's part and described footage of war crimes committed by its soldiers as 'fake' and 'lies'
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