About 1,200 war crimes have already been registered in the Kyiv region since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the capital’s police chief said.
Andrei Nebitov did not specify what each war crime was or how many of them were involved.
However, he told Sky News in an interview on Tuesday that most of the deaths recorded so far were due to Russian shelling and rocket fire.
Ukraine Live News: NATO predicts major new Russian invasion – as Putin’s ally says, aims to build ‘Eurasia from Lisbon to Vladivostok’
“In other words, the cause of death is explosions and debris wounds,” he said.
“We also record incidents of people being tortured with automatic weapons and actual executions.”
Kiev’s top police official was speaking at one of the possible war crimes scenes in the town of Bucha, northwest of the capital.
The pile of corpses, burnt out of recognition, has been surrounded by police tape.
Yellow blade number one to six, which separates the remnants of one life from another.
Investigators are still trying to determine what happened to the victims. Their identities – like many unclaimed bodies in the city – have not yet been confirmed.
Preliminary investigations show that Russian soldiers shot and killed them.
The remains appear to have included a woman and a potential teenage child.
Mr Nebitov said investigators would first examine the bodies. Then they will be taken to the morgue in a black bag.
“There they are examined by forensic medical experts,” he said.
“It simply came to our notice then. It is linked to a criminal case file, which will be investigated by the security services. “
The police chief hopes Ukraine will be able to launch an international investigation into suspected Russian war crimes
Drone footage shows Russian military vehicles firing at cyclists in Bucha
Asked if Ukraine would be able to launch an international investigation into suspected Russian war crimes, the police chief said he hoped so.
“Then everything will depend on the international court. Based on the practice of twentieth-century international war crimes investigations, we now have the opportunity to record evidence of criminal activity by the Russian military in a much higher and more comprehensive way, “he said.
The death toll is rising as more bodies are found in Buchate. The police chief predicted that the final number would be “a lot”.
Please use the Chrome browser for more accessible video players
Russian forces entered the town in the early days of the war, taking control of it until late last week when Ukrainian troops retreated.
“There is no total number [of bodies] Still, ”said the police chief.
“We are working every day. I must say that there are many people. Especially in forested areas. On the street. And we haven’t looked at the house or the flat yet. “
He said forensic experts had so far examined 200 bodies, mainly from the Bucha region and the neighboring town of Irpin.
Sky’s Mark Austin to interview Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s press secretary
