KYIV, April 5 — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday visited the town of Bucha outside Kyiv, where hundreds of murdered civilians were allegedly found after Russian forces withdrew, the Ukrinform news agency reported.
“It is very important for us that the press is here, the journalists — this is the most important thing. We really want you to show the world what was happening here, what the Russian forces were doing, what the Russian Federation was doing in peaceful Ukraine,” Zelensky told reporters at the site.
At least 280 people, including children, were found dead in Bucha, some 28 km northwest of Kyiv after the Ukrainian army retook control of the town from the Russian military.
Zelensky earlier called the killings of civilians in Bucha a “war crime”.
The Russian Defense Ministry on Sunday refuted Kyiv’s accusation of the alleged killing of civilians in the settlement of Bucha in Ukraine’s Kyiv region.
“All photographs and video materials published by the Kyiv regime, allegedly evidencing some kind of ‘crimes’ committed by Russian military personnel in the city of Bucha, Kyiv region, are another provocation,” the ministry said in a statement.
It said that during the time the settlement was under the control of the Russian forces, not a single local resident suffered from any violent actions, adding that “all Russian units completely withdrew from Bucha on March 30.” (Xinhua)
