Ukrainians find dead civilians in towns retaken from Russian forces

Ukrainian service members walk near a Ukrainian flag

Summary

• Dead civilians line streets of recaptured town near Kyiv
• Ukraine accuses Russian forces of laying mines
• ICRC convoy on way to besieged port of Mariupol
• Ukrainian negotiator hints at Zelenskiy-Putin talks
• Russia's chief negotiator says draft deal not ready for top-level talks

As Ukraine said its forces had retaken all areas around Kyiv, the mayor of a liberated town said 300 residents had been killed during a month-long occupation by the Russian army, and victims were seen in a mass grave and still lying on the streets.

Ukrainian troops have retaken more than 30 towns and villages around Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said on Saturday, claiming complete control of the capital region for the first time since Russia launched its invasion on Feb 24.

At Bucha, a town neighbouring Irpin just 37 km (23 miles) northwest of the capital, Reuters journalists saw bodies lying in the streets and the hands and feet of multiple corpses poking out of a still-open grave at a church ground.

After more than five weeks of fighting, Russia has pulled back forces that had threatened Kyiv from the north to regroup for battles in eastern Ukraine.

"The whole Kyiv region is liberated from the invader," Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar wrote on Facebook on Saturday.

There was no Russian comment on the claim, which Reuters could not immediately verify.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned in a video address: "They are mining all this territory. Houses are mined, equipment is mined, even the bodies of dead people." He did not cite evidence. 

Ukraine's emergencies service said more than 1,500 explosives had been found in one day during a search of the village of Dmytrivka, west of the capital.

Source: Reuters