After withdrawing Russian forces abandoned mass graves in the Ukrainian village of Bucha, European leaders have accused Russia of genocide.
On Sunday night, April 3, the Ukrainian government announced that 410 dead had been discovered in villages near Kyiv, the country's capital.
According to the authorities, mass graves lined the streets of the little town of Bucha, one of more than 30 towns and suburbs seized by the Ukrainian army in recent days, with bodies of residents bound with their hands and bullet holes in the backs of their skulls.
Survivors returning from basements after weeks of hiding underground, according to Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenskyy, recounted witnessing summary executions, sexual violence, and terror unlike anything witnessed since Joseph Stalin's Soviet government of terror in the 1930s.
The body of a man, with his wrists bound behind his back, was seen lying on a street in one horrific photo issued by the Ukrainian government.
Russian forces allegedly dragged five men to their knees, pulled their shirts over their heads, and shot them in the back of the head in another incident in Bucha.
Another woman in town claimed that Russian forces took her and 40 other people to a square to observe a similar scenario involving four individuals, though only one of them was shot this time.
The incidents were captured on video by Ukraine's defence ministry, which compared them to the 1995 murders of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Bosnia.
'New Srebrenica,' it read. For several weeks, the city of Bucha was in the hands of animals.
'Civilians were being executed indiscriminately, some with their wrists tied behind their backs and their bodies strewn throughout the city streets.'
Zelensky and Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, accused Russia of committing "genocide."
On Sunday night, the UK, France, and Germany, as well as NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, called for an international investigation into claims of Russian 'war crimes.'
In response to the shocking photographs, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said, "It's not a war, it's a crime scene."
'This is genocide,' Zelensky added. 'The annihilation of the entire nation and its inhabitants.'
Pictures of the wreckage were 'difficult to behold,' according to Mr Klitschko. 'They are killing civilians, children, and women,' he continued.
Boris Johnson said in a statement that the UK is'stepping up' sanctions and military support, as well as 'bolstering' humanitarian relief for civilians on the ground.
'The United Kingdom has been a driving force behind the International Criminal Court's (ICC) inquiry into atrocities perpetrated in Ukraine.
'The Justice Secretary has approved additional financial support and the deployment of specialised detectives - we will not rest until justice is delivered,' said the statement.
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