Retreating Russians leave behind cities strewn with corpses
Tom Palmer
Journalists stand by a mass grave in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 4, 2022. Russia is facing a fresh wave of condemnation after evidence emerged of what appeared to be deliberate killings of civilians in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Journalists stand by a mass grave in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 4, 2022. Russia is facing a fresh wave of condemnation after evidence emerged of what appeared to be deliberate killings of civilians in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Volunteers carry the bodies of murdered civilians, in Bucha, close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, Apr. 4, 2022. Russia is facing a fresh wave of condemnation after evidence emerged of what appeared to be deliberate killings of civilians in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
The lifeless body of a man lies on a dirt path in Bucha, Ukraine, Monday, April 4, 2022. Russia faced a fresh wave of condemnation on Monday after evidence emerged of what appeared to be deliberate killings of civilians in Ukraine. Some Western leaders called for further sanctions in response, even as Moscow continued to press its offensive in the country's east. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Ira Gavriluk holds her cat as she walks next to the corpses of her husband and her brother, who were killed in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 4, 2022. Russia is facing a fresh wave of condemnation after evidence emerged of what appeared to be deliberate killings of civilians in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Natalya, whose husband and nephew were killed by Russian forces, cries in her garden in Bucha, Ukraine, Monday, April 4, 2022. Russia faced a fresh wave of condemnation on Monday after evidence emerged of what appeared to be deliberate killings of civilians in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Three people lie on the ground after being killed in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 4, 2022. Russia is facing a fresh wave of condemnation after evidence emerged of what appeared to be deliberate killings of civilians in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Journalists stand on the side of a mass grave of village residents and the village head and his family, in the village of Motyzhyn, close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday April 4, 2022. Russia is facing a fresh wave of condemnation after evidence emerged of what appeared to be deliberate killings of civilians in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
A lifeless body of a man with his hands tied behind his back lies on the ground in Bucha, Ukraine, Sunday, April 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
A dead civilian with his hands tied behind his back lies on the ground in Bucha close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday April 4, 2022. Russia is facing a fresh wave of condemnation after evidence emerged of what appeared to be deliberate killings of civilians in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Lifeless bodies lie on a courtyard in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 4, 2022. Russia is facing a fresh wave of condemnation after evidence emerged of what appeared to be deliberate killings of civilians in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
The charred body of a man along with five other people, lie on the ground in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 4, 2022. Russia is facing a fresh wave of condemnation after evidence emerged of what appeared to be deliberate killings of civilians in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Tanya Nedashkivs'ka, 57, mourns the death of her husband who was killed in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 4, 2022. Russia is facing a fresh wave of condemnation after evidence emerged of what appeared to be deliberate killings of civilians in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
The corpse of a man lies by the side of a road in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 4, 2022. Russia is facing a fresh wave of condemnation after evidence emerged of what appeared to be deliberate killings of civilians in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
The body of a man lies outside his house after he was killed in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 4, 2022. Russia is facing a fresh wave of condemnation after evidence emerged of what appeared to be deliberate killings of civilians in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
The body of a man lies outside his house after he was killed in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 4, 2022. Russia is facing a fresh wave of condemnation after evidence emerged of what appeared to be deliberate killings of civilians in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - The corpse of a man lies in a basement in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, April 4, 2022. Russia is facing a fresh wave of condemnation after evidence emerged of what appeared to be deliberate killings of civilians in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
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(NewsNation) — The world is getting a glimpse at the grisly horrors of war as images from Ukraine emerged showing what appeared to be deliberate killings of dozens if not hundreds of civilians at the hands of Russian ground forces.
The battered bodies seen out in the open or in hastily dug graves were discovered as Ukrainian forces retook territory on the outskirts of the capital, Kyiv.
In Bucha, northwest of Kyiv, bodies wrapped in black plastic were piled on one end of a mass grave in a churchyard. Many of the victims had been shot in cars or killed in explosions trying to flee the city.
In what has been called a “scene from a horror movie,” scores of killed civilians were found on the streets of Bucha and the Kyiv suburbs of Irpin and Hostomel.
“Dead people have been found in barrels, basements, strangled, tortured,” said President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who again called on Russia to move quickly to negotiate an end to the war.
The images may be disturbing for some to view, but in their release, the gruesome scenes have led to heightened awareness and growing global condemnation of Russian aggression and accusations of war crimes against Moscow.
