Streets and buildings in Bucha, Ukraine are dotted with bodies lying around every corner.? The horrific scene came to light after Russian troops left the town of Bucha, killing hundreds of people, some in execution style.
"Don't touch the body. It may be mined," said a policeman, who pointed out the spot where the corpse lay but asked not to be identified by name.
Bucha, 37 km (23 miles) northwest of Kyiv, was occupied by Russian troops for more than a month following the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.
When the Russian forces pulled back last week, they left behind civilians dead on Bucha's streets, inside buildings and buried in shallow graves.
Local officials say more than 300 people were killed by Russian forces in Bucha alone, and around 50 of them were executed.
The policeman said residents of Bucha had buried another five corpses under an unmarked earth mound that Reuters passed nearby.?
Since reaching Bucha on Sunday, Reuters has witnessed the remains of at least five victims who were shot through the head. One had his hands tied behind his back.
The man Reuters saw on Wednesday, wearing blue jeans and a black winter jacket, lay 100 meters from a small cemetery. Reuters was unable to identify the man or determine who had killed him.
Witnesses in the town - which has been badly shelled; its facades gouged and blackened - have recounted details of what they said were several other extra-judicial killings at the hands of Russians. Reuters has been unable to verify their accounts independently.
Ukraine's government has accused Russia of genocide and war crimes. The Kremlin dismisses the allegations as propaganda and says its forces are not targeting civilians.
Russia's UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the Security Council that accusations of abuse were lies. He said that while Bucha was under Russian control "not a single civilian suffered from any kind of violence."
On Sunday, Russia's defence ministry issued a statement saying that all photographs and videos published by the Ukrainian authorities alleging "crimes" by Russian troops in Bucha were a "provocation."
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