Satellite images appear to show mass graves outside the besieged city of Mariupol.
The southern Ukrainian city has witnessed some of the most intense fighting since the war began and local officials have now accused Russian forces of attempting to bury up to 9,000 civilians.
The images provided by Maxar Technologies show a long row of what appears to be graves stretching away from the cemetery in the town of Manhush, 20km west of Mariupol.
Maxar Technologies said the images showed over 200 mass graves and claimed a review showed they had been dug in late March, but were expanded in recent weeks.
Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko accused Russian soldiers of attempting to hide their “military crimes” by burying the bodies in Manhush, a village about 15 miles from Mariupol that is occupied by Vladimir Putin’s troops.
Such is the devastation of Mariupol, he accused Mr Putin’s forces of conducting “a new Babi Yar”, a reference to the site of multiple Nazi massacres in which nearly 34,000 Ukrainian Jews were killed in 1941.
“The bodies of the dead were being brought by the truckload and actually simply being dumped in mounds,” an aide to Mr Boychenko, Piotr Andryushchenko, said on Telegram.
The images emerged hours after Mr Putin claimed victory in the battle for the city, despite the presence of an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian fighters in the Azovstal steel plant.
Although Moscow has not responded to the claims, Mr Putin ordered his defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, to blockade the steel plant “so that not even a fly comes through”.
During the meeting Mr Shoigu claimed the city had now been “liberated” while it is believed the remaining inhabitants have little food, water or medicine.
The Ministry of Defence believes Mr Putin wants to free up forces to be deployed elsewhere in Ukraine in order to show significant gains ahead of the annual May 9 Victory Day celebrations.
