People walk past destroyed buildings in the town of Borodianka, northwest of Kyiv
(Picture: AFP via Getty Images)Hundreds more civilians are feared to have been killed in other recaptured towns in Ukraine including in one which may be a worse atrocity than the Bucha massacre, Volodymyr Zelensky warned on Tuesday.
The Ukrainian president said some of the appalling war crimes committed by Russian troops had not been seen “even during the Nazi occupation 80 years ago”.
The bodies of at least 410 civilians have been discovered in the town of Bucha, near Kyiv, and other areas since Russian forces retreated from around the capital and parts of northern Ukraine.
Before addressing the UN Security Council on the killings which have horrified the world, Mr Zelensky said in his late night address: “We have just begun an investigation into all that the occupiers have done.
“At present, there is information about more than three hundred people killed and tortured in Bucha alone. It is likely that the list of victims will be much larger when the whole city is checked. And this is only one city.”
Grimly, he also warned: “There is already information that the number of victims of the occupiers may be even higher in Borodyanka and some other liberated cities.
“In many villages of the liberated districts of the Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy regions, the occupiers did things that the locals had not seen even during the Nazi occupation 80 years ago. The occupiers will definitely bear responsibility for this.”
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also warned that the evidence discovered so far of civilian killings was just the “tip of the iceberg”.
Iryna Venediktova, the country’s prosecutor-general, stressed that a “similar humanitarian situation” to Bucha exists in other parts of the country from where Russian forces recently retreated, including areas around the northern cities of Sumy and Chernihiv.
She also warned that what happened in Borodyanka, to the north west of Kyiv, may be the “worst situation in terms of the victims”.
Mr Zelensky visited Bucha on Monday where some civilians were found with their hands tied behind their back and with a gunshot to the back of the head, evidence that they were executed.
Some of the individuals had signs of having been tortured.
Mass graves were also discovered, as were several bodies of women on one road.
The Kremlin, which previously denied any invasion of Ukraine was planned, now claims the killings were faked as part of Ukrainian and western propaganda.
But satellite footage shows bodies lying in the streets before the Russian troops withdrew, with some of the killings believed to have taken place three weeks ago.
Mr Zelensky called for the “most complete, transparent investigation” into the war crimes being committed.
He accused the Kremlin of spreading “lies” and “distorting the facts” about the atrocities.
However, he added: “They will not succeed. They will not be able to deceive the whole world.
“The time will come when every Russian will learn the whole truth about who of their fellow citizens killed. Who gave orders. Who turned a blind eye to the murders. We will establish all this. And make it globally known.”
He stressed: “We are already doing everything possible to identify all the Russian military involved in these crimes as soon as possible. Everything to punish them. This will be a joint work of our state with the European Union and international institutions, in particular with the International Criminal Court.”
Britain is taking a leading role in pushing for a war crimes trial.
US president Joe Biden has also branded Mr Putin a war criminal who should face justice.
