More than 400 war crimes documented in Kherson, Ukraine’s president said
Ukrainian forces retook the city after Russian forces pulled out on Friday
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday accused Russian soldiers of committing war crimes and killing civilians in Kherson, parts of which were retaken by Ukraine’s army last week after Russia pulled out.
“Investigators have already documented more than 400 Russian war crimes. Bodies of dead civilians and servicemen have been found,” Zelensky said in his nightly video address.
“The Russian army left behind the same savagery it did in other regions of the country it entered,” he said.
Reuters was unable immediately to verify his allegations. Russia denies its troops intentionally target civilians.
Ukrainian troops arrived in the centre of southern Kherson region on Friday after Russia abandoned the only regional capital it had captured since Moscow launched its invasion in February.
The withdrawal marked the third major Russian retreat of the war and the first to involve yielding such a large occupied city in the face of a major Ukrainian counteroffensive that has retaken parts of the east and south.
Utility companies in Kherson region were working to restore critical infrastructure damaged and mined by fleeing Russian forces, with most homes in the southern Ukrainian city still without electricity and water, regional officials said.
