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By GLEN KEOGH FOR THE DAILY MAIL
PUBLISHED: 07:00 AEST, 13 April 2022 | UPDATED: 09:35 AEST, 13 April 2022
More than 6,000 alleged war crimes committed by Russian troops including mass slaughter of civilians and rape are now under investigation, Ukraine's prosecutor's office revealed yesterday.
The prosecutor general said 186 children are confirmed to have been killed since the war began on February 24 despite Vladimir Putin's repeated denials that civilians have been targeted.
A total of 6,036 potential war crimes have been reported.
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More than 6,000 alleged war crimes committed by Russian troops including mass slaughter of civilians and rape are now under investigation, Ukraine's prosecutor's office revealed. Pictured: Gendarmerie IRCGN officers, from France, observe the exhumation of civilians killed during the war with Russia in Bucha, in the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine
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President Volodymyr Zelensky, addressing Lithuania's parliament yesterday, revealed that investigators had received reports of 'hundreds of cases of rape' in areas previously occupied by Russian troops
President Volodymyr Zelensky, addressing Lithuania's parliament yesterday, revealed that investigators had received reports of 'hundreds of cases of rape' in areas previously occupied by Russian troops.
He also revealed for the first time alleged evidence of Putin's soldiers sexually abusing children. Speaking via videolink from Kyiv, he said: 'In areas freed from the occupiers, the recording and investigation of war crimes committed by Russia continues. Almost every day we find new mass graves.
'Hundreds of cases of rape have been recorded, including those of young girls and very young children, even of a baby.'
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President Zelensky also revealed for the first time alleged evidence of Putin's soldiers sexually abusing children. Pictured: Russian President Vladimir Putin signs in the visitor's book at a rocket assembly factory during his visit to the Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Tsiolkovsky today
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Separately, the UN Security Council was warned again of rape being used by Russian troops to punish and humiliate Ukrainians. Pictured: Members of an international team of war crimes prosecutors and Prosecutor General of Ukraine Iryna Venediktova (C) during a visit to a mass grave in Bucha, Kyiv today
Separately, the UN Security Council was warned again yesterday of rape being used by Russian troops to punish and humiliate Ukrainians.
Kateryna Cherepakha, president of rights group La Strada-Ukraine, told the council via video: 'Violence and rape is used now as a weapon of war by Russian invaders in Ukraine.' Moscow has denied the allegations.
Russia's barbaric tactics have received international condemnation, particularly after troops retreated from the commuter town of Bucha, revealing evidence that civilians had been bound, shot dead and dumped by the side of the road. At least 403 people were killed in the town.
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Russia's barbaric tactics have received international condemnation, particularly after troops retreated from the commuter town of Bucha, revealing evidence that civilians had been bound, shot dead and dumped by the side of the road. At least 403 people were killed in the town. Pictured: French forensics investigators, who arrived to Ukraine for the investigation of war crimes amid Russia's invasion, listen as Ukraine's Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova speaks, in the town of Bucha today
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In Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, Ukrainian authorities were desperately trying to remove landmines that had been dropped in the city – some on children's playgrounds. Pictured: Leonid Serdiuchenko, a Ukrainian commander stands next to the remains of a missile outside the village of Barvinkove, as Russia's invasion on Ukraine continues
US President Joe Biden said the evidence warranted a war crime investigation, while Boris Johnson said the killings 'do not look far short of genocide'.
The US embassy in Kyiv condemned the latest child casualty figures, writing in a statement posted to social media yesterday: 'After each death of a child, the life of a mother, father and family is changed for ever.
'Each assassination was committed by a Russian soldier, a commander, and Vladimir Putin, whose crimes will not be forgotten.'
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Pictured: Firefighters are seen through the destroyed window of an apartment as they work to extinguish a fire after a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine today
Biden calls for Putin to face a war crimes trial
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US President Joe Biden said the evidence warranted a war crime investigation, while Boris Johnson said the killings 'do not look far short of genocide'
Ukrainian prosecutors yesterday announced their war crime investigations were expanding from Bucha into the north-eastern Kyiv suburb of Brovary after troops withdrew to redeploy in eastern Ukraine.
The prosecutor general's office described renewed evidence of alleged massacres, including finding the bodies of six civilians with gunshot wounds in a basement in the village of Shevchenkove, near Brovary.
There is also evidence that Russian forces opened fire on a car convoy of civilians evacuating the nearby village of Peremoha, killing four people including a 13-year-old boy.
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Pictured: Prosecutor General of Ukraine Iryna Venediktova speaks to journalists during a visit to a mass grave in Bucha today
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Ukrainian prosecutors yesterday announced their war crime investigations were expanding from Bucha into the north-eastern Kyiv suburb of Brovary after troops withdrew to redeploy in eastern Ukraine. Pictured: A damaged private building after shelling in Bohdanivka village near Brovary, Kyiv
In Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, Ukrainian authorities were desperately trying to remove landmines that had been dropped in the city – some on children's playgrounds.
The plastic PTM-1M mines, dropped on residential streets, operate on timers or when touched and are banned by some countries because of the risk of civilian casualties.
In the eastern region of Luhansk, the site of the new Russian offensive, such is the scale of the onslaught that morgues in several cities are full, said Luhansk governor Serhiy Haidai. Some cities have now lost electricity.
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In the eastern region of Luhansk, the site of the new Russian offensive, such is the scale of the onslaught that morgues in several cities are full, said Luhansk governor Serhiy Haidai. Some cities have now lost electricity. Pictured: Luhansk: Russian forces fired at Lysychansk with heavy weapons on April 11
Starmer says possible war crimes in Ukraine must be investigated
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