Ukraine's ombudswoman says up to 300 bodies may be in Bucha mass grave

Graves with bodies of civilians, who according to local residents were killed by Russian soldiers, are seen, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Bucha, in Kyiv region, Ukraine April 4, 2022. The inscription on a cross reads: "Unknown". REUTERS/Vladyslav Musiienko

Ukrainian human rights ombudswoman Lyudmyla Denisova said on Tuesday between 150 and 300 bodies may be in a mass grave by a church in the town of Bucha, where Ukraine accuses Russian troops of killing civilians.

Moscow denies targeting civilians in Ukraine and has said the deaths in Bucha, in the Kyiv region, were a "monstrous forgery" staged by the West to discredit it.

"Currently, the bodies of the dead are being collected by law enforcement officers to conduct the necessary examinations," Denisova said in an online post.

She did not say how the authorities had reached the estimate of the number of victims in the mass grave.

(Reporting by Max Hunder, Writing by Alessandra Prentice, Editing by Timothy Heritage)