About 300 residents had been killed on the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital during a monthlong occupation by the Russian army, authorities said, with the streets littered with corpses.
Locals said the dead in Bucha were civilians killed by departing Russian soldiers without provocation. Anti-tank mines were scattered across a bridge in Bucha.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned residents that Russian forces were creating a “catastrophic” situation for civilians by leaving mines around homes, abandoned equipment and even corpses.
Ukraine’s troops have retaken more than 30 towns and villages around Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said on Saturday, claiming complete control of the capital region for the first time since Russia launched its invasion on February 24.
After five weeks of fighting, Russia pulled back forces that had threatened Kyiv from the north. Experts and Ukrainian leaders say Russia has now shifted focus to eastern Ukraine.