Explosions were heard in the southern port of Odessa UkraineOn the night of Sunday to Monday, Ukrainian media said that explosions were heard in the southern city of Kherson as well.
For its part, the British Ministry of Defense monitored the continuation of fighting in the city of Mariupol, as Russian forces seek to control the city.
In the same context, the mayor of the northeastern Sumy region announced the complete withdrawal of Russian forces from the region, while the Russian Defense Ministry announced the opening of a humanitarian corridor to evacuate civilians from the city of Mariupol on Monday morning.
The Ukrainian authorities had announced the killing of seven people and wounding of more than thirty others in the Russian bombing of the city of Kharkiv.
In addition, the Russian Foreign Ministry said, on Sunday evening, that Ukrainian extremists are responsible for the crime that took place in the city of Bucha, while satellite images of the American company Maxar showed a trench at the site of a cemetery in the Ukrainian city of Bucha.
On the other hand, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General confirmed that “410 bodies of civilians were found in lands retaken by Ukrainian forces near Kyiv.”
The Ukrainian authorities accused the Russian army of committing a “deliberate massacre” of civilians in the Ukrainian city of Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, and other “atrocities” in areas “liberated from the Russians”.
Mass grave in Bucha
“57 bodies were found in a mass grave in Bucha, near Kyiv, after they were liberated by Ukrainian forces this week,” Serhiy Kaplichner, a local relief official in the Ukrainian city of Bucha, told AFP.
And the agency reported earlier, that “in the city, a journalist affiliated with the agency saw the bodies of about twenty men, one of whom had a severe head wound in a street.”
It also quoted the mayor of the city, Anatoly Fedorok, who was recaptured by the Ukrainians from Russian forces, as saying that “all these people were executed, with a bullet to the back of the head,” noting that “about 300 people were buried in mass graves.”
United Nations: Serious questions about possible war crimes in Bucha
The United Nations considered, on Sunday, that the discovery of mass graves in the Ukrainian city of Bucha after the withdrawal of Russian forces from it, raises serious questions about “possible war crimes”, stressing the importance of preserving all evidence, quoting AFP.
“We are not yet in the process of commenting directly on the causes and circumstances of the deaths of civilians in Bucha, but what we know to date clearly raises serious and troubling questions about possible war crimes and serious violations of international humanitarian law,” the international human rights office said.
On Saturday, Ukrainian officials said about 300 bodies were buried in mass graves. AFP saw at least 20 bodies, all in civilian clothes, in one street.
The UN human rights office noted that its staff on the ground have not yet been able to verify the numbers or details made public by Ukrainian officials.
But he said, “We are deeply concerned about the available photos and videos, including those that show dead bodies with their hands tied behind their backs.”
“At the same time, we cannot rule out that among the approximately 300 bodies, reportedly collected from the streets and buried in recent days by city authorities, are those of Ukrainian or Russian soldiers killed during the hostilities,” he added.
“Civilians who have died of natural causes, heart attacks or other health conditions caused by stress and lack of access to medication and medical help within the past month may also be among those found dead on the city’s streets,” he added.
But given the possibility that she may have committed war crimes, the office said it was important to “exhume all the bodies and identify their owners.”
He explained that this is essential “so that relatives are informed and the exact cause of death is determined in order to ensure accountability and justice.”
“It is also important to take all measures to ensure that evidence is preserved,” he concluded.