Russian butchery in occupied areas is likely to be even worse than war crimes that have already been uncovered, experts have warned.
Vladimir Putin's forces have been accused of genocide after evidence of summary executions, torture and rape was found in areas formerly under their control.
Harrowing images from Bucha, on the outskirts of capital Kyiv, show bodies piled up in the street, with witnesses saying many appeared to have been shot while their hands were bound behind their backs.
A bombshell report by Human Rights Watch yesterday said Russian forces had carried out "unspeakable, deliberate cruelty and violence" directed toward the Ukrainian population.
Putin's troops have been accused of carrying out a "massacre" that "could amount to genocide" in Bucha, while allegations of violence toward civilians have been documented across the country.
It is now feared that barbaric acts will be uncovered in cities such as Mariupol, which has been the focus of Russian invaders, with missiles raining down on the population for weeks.
Tymofiy Mylovanov, an advisor to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, warned that there could be worse to emerge.
He posted on Twitter : "The war crimes in Brovary and Chernihiv directions might be more heinous that those in Bucha. We have eyewitness accounts through friends, relatives and students."
Defence minister Dmytro Kuleba said he feared the situation in the besieged city of Mariupol would be even worse.
He said: "Russians aim to eliminate as many Ukrainians as they can."
These fears were echoed by Marie Yovanovitch, former US Ambassador to Ukraine, who said: "I think it is clear what we're going to find [in Mariupol].. and it is going to be probably even worse than Bucha."
Yesterday Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba branded Russia "worse than ISIS", accusing invaders of killing "out of anger and just because they wanted to kill".
He said: "We understand they were killing civilians while leaving, while withdrawing, while staying there in this town of Bucha and also in other towns and villages in key regions, but also while withdrawing from them out of anger and just because they wanted to kill.
"There was no good reason for them. These were not guerrillas, they were not people opposing them.
"Russia is worse than ISIS, full stop."
Ukraine's defence ministry shared harrowing footage of the sight that greeted liberators in Bucha after the Russians withdrew, likening it to Srebrenica in Bosnia, where 8,000 Muslim men and boys were slaughtered in 1995.
It said: "New Srebrenica. The city of Bucha was in the hands of animals for several weeks.
"Civilians were being executed arbitrarily, some with hands tied behind their backs, their bodies scattered in the streets of the city."
Bucha mayor Anatoliy Fedoruk said: "The Russians have demonstrated that they were consciously killing civilians.
"They practically got a green light from Putin for a safari and they were shooting Ukrainian people.''
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has outlined several incidents relayed to them by witnesses.
- One witness to alleged Russian brutality in Bucha said they had seen five men forced to kneel at the side of the road, with T-shirts over their heads. One of the men was shot in the back of the head, the witness said.
- Russian forces in the village of Staryi Bykiv, in Chernihiv region, are claimed to have rounded up at least six men on February 27, and later executed them. The mum of one of the men said she had seen all six bodies.
- Russian troops threw a smoke grenade into a basement in Vorzel, 50km northwest of Kyiv on March 6, a witness said. They then shot a woman and a 14-year-old child as they tried to escape. The child died immediately, while the woman died two days later
Witnesses who survived the brutal occupation before Russian forces withdrew have claimed that civilians including children, were tortured.
Soldier Sergeiy Torovik told The Times he had been appalled by what he had seen in his hometown of Stoyanka, close to Kyiv.
He described Russian troops as "lower than animals", recounting the horrific scenes he had encountered in a basement of a home, where he said 18 bodies were recovered.
"Some of them had their ears cut off," he said.
"Others had teeth pulled out. There were kids like 14, 16 years old, some adults.
"They just took the bodies away yesterday.”
Jack Watling, a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, said that Russia would have planned its savagery toward civilians.
He said: "This was the plan, it was premeditated.
"If the Russian military had been more successful there would have been more towns like it."
Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at HRW, said: “The cases we documented amount to unspeakable, deliberate cruelty and violence against Ukrainian civilians.
“Rape, murder, and other violent acts against people in the Russian forces’ custody should be investigated as war crimes.”
He continued: “Russia has an international legal obligation to impartially investigate alleged war crimes by its soldiers.
“Commanders should recognize that a failure to take action against murder and rape may make them personally responsible for war crimes as a matter of command responsibility.”
