Ukraine’s deputy prime minister told AFP that more than 1,000 civilian bodies are currently in morgues in the Kyiv region, accusing the Russians of “massacreating” hundreds of people during the March invasion.

“There are a total of 1,020 civilian bodies in the Kyiv morgues, just civilians,” said Olga Stefanishyna in the town of Borodianka, northwest of the capital.

Since the withdrawal of Russian troops from the area, hundreds of civilian bodies have been found by Ukrainian authorities, which have condemned “war crimes”, which Moscow denies.

Stefanishyna explained that the figure represents the total number of civilian bodies “found in buildings and streets” in the Kyiv region since the start of the Russian occupation on February 24.

Earlier, the governor of the Kyiv region, Alexander Pavliuk, declared that civilians were “killed or tortured” by the Russians. “The coroners are examining the bodies,” he said.

On April 3, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Iryna Venicetova reported that 410 civilian bodies were found in the region of the Ukrainian capital, which were retrieved by Russian troops a few days ago. A week later, on April 10, he claimed more than 1,200 bodies had been found in the area, without disclosing whether they were simply civilians.

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