Ukrainian troops entering the city, located 15 miles northwest of the capital Kiev, found at least 20 dead men lying on the street. On Sunday, Sergei Nikiforov, a spokesman for President Volodymyr Zelensky, condemned the “pure barbarity” of mass graves. “We found mass graves full of citizens. We found people with their arms and legs tied and with bullet holes in the back of their heads. “They were clearly civilians and were executed. “We found half-burnt corpses as if someone were trying to hide the crimes, but in reality they did not have enough time to do it properly.” Pictures from a private American company Maxar show that the first signs of excavation appeared on March 10 in the church of St. Andrew and Pyervozvannoho of All Saints. This satellite image brochure, released by Maxar Technologies on April 3, 2022, shows a possible excavation of a tomb (R) near the Church of St. Andrew and Pyervozvannoho of All Saints in Bucha, Ukraine, on March 10, 2022. (Satellite image  © 2022 Maxar Tech) On March 31, satellite images show the tomb with a moat about 45 feet long in the southwestern part of the area near the church, the company said in a statement. A satellite image shows the location of the tomb near the church of St. Andrew and Pyervozvannoho All Saints, in Bucha (via REUTERS) “I have to be very careful with my words, but it looks exactly like war crimes,” Nikiforov said. However, Russia has denied the Ukrainian government’s allegations that they are “false accusations.” In a statement, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said Ukrainian forces fired artillery at Bucha after the withdrawal of Russian forces, according to the Russian state news agency TASS. Earlier, the mayor of Bucha said 280 people had been buried in mass graves – while some of the few survivors enjoyed “their first bread in 38 days”. On Saturday, Ukrainian forces occupied all areas around Kyiv, claiming full control of the capital’s area for the first time since Russia launched the invasion on February 24. Troops have recaptured more than 30 towns and villages around Kyiv since Russia withdrew from the area this week, Ukrainian officials said. The Independent has a proud campaign history for the rights of the most vulnerable and we first launched our “Welcome Refugees” campaign during the war in Syria in 2015. Now, as we renew our campaign and start this report on In the wake of the unfolding Ukrainian crisis, we call on the government to move faster and faster to secure aid. To learn more about our Refugee Campaign, click here. To sign the application click here. If you would like to donate, click here for our GoFundMe page.
