The Security Service of Ukraine reported it had identified almost 900 Russian servicemen who committed crimes against civilians in the Kyiv region. «The Ukrainian special service has all the information on the invaders, as well as evidence of the atrocities they committed,» SBU spokesman Artyom Dekhtyarenko said.
According to him, more than 2,500 Russian servicemen who serve in the units that were stationed in the Kyiv region are currently being checked for involvement in the crimes. As part of the investigation, 7,000 witnesses have already been questioned. In the course of the work it was also found out that nearly 100 citizens of Ukraine collaborated with and assisted the Russian military.
Earlier, Prosecutor General of Ukraine Irina Venediktovanamed ten servicemen of the Russian army who, according to the Ukrainian side, had been involved in the abuse of civilians in the town of Bucha in the Kyiv region. All of them are servicemen of the 64th separate motorized rifle brigade of the Russian Army, which recently was given the title of «Guards»by Putin.
One of these servicemen Albert Radnaev told Vot Tak he hadnot been to Bucha and in fact he had left the army two years ago. However, he did not provide any supporting evidence and stopped contacting us.
On April 2, journalists and Ukrainian soldiers entered Bucha, which had been liberated from the Russian occupation, and saw streets strewn with bodies of dead civilians. Some of them had their hands tied behind their backs and some had been shot in the back of the head. The Insider spoke to residents of Bucha, and they described how the Russian military shot random passersby, looted homes, and prevented residents from leaving.
Oleksiy Arestovich, adviser to the head of the Ukrainian presidential office, said in a video message that the world should be horrified by what happened in the Kyiv region cities of Bucha, Irpen and Gostomel. «Bucha, Irpen and Gostomelare the cities that have been liberated and they resemble a shot from a post-apocalyptic horror movie. Among the victims of the war crimes committed by Russian troops are raped women whom their assailants tried to burn, murdered representatives of local government, murdered children, murdered elderly people, murdered men,» he noted. Many of those killed appear to have been tortured.
Dozens of women in Bucha were raped by the Russian military. According to Ukrainian ombudsman Lyudmila Denisova, the occupiers held 25 girls and women aged from 14 to 24 in one of the basements. The captives were regularly sexually abused there, and nine of them became pregnant afterwards. The ombudsman also said Russian soldiers had raped an 11-year-old boy in front of his mother, who was tied to a chair.
In total, more than 1,200 bodies of murdered civilians were found in the Kyiv region after the withdrawal of Russian troops.