Ukrainian Civilians Found Tortured, Russia Brands Claims As ‘Provocation’

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues and the number of dead individuals is rising. Unfortunately, the death toll includes civilians who are reportedly victims of extra-judicial killings.

In a report from Reuters, there was reportedly a man found with hands tied behind his back and having a bullet wound to his head. And it appears here are scores more with Bucha deputy mayor Taras Shapravski alleging that about 50 residents were victims after Russian forces withdrew from the city last week.

However, Moscow has denied the war crimes and says that these allegations are an act of provocation. They are standing pat on their claim that Russian troops have not harmed any residents of Bucha.

"During the time that Russian armed forces were in control of this settlement, not a single local resident suffered from any violent actions," the defense ministry of Russia said in a statement.

Hence, for now, the ones responsible for the killings are unknown. But the fact that there are more casualties is very disturbing.

Three more bodies were found on Sunday. There was a corpse found with hands tied while two others were not. However, all bore bullet wounds to the head, consistent with what Bucha mayor Anatoliy Fedoruk and his deputy described as executions.

The three victims were male and all were wearing civilian clothing. As far as the shooting, the fact that there were powder burn marks on the face means that they were shot at close range.

"Any war has some rules of engagement for civilians. The Russians have demonstrated that they were consciously killing civilians," Fedoruk stated.

With Russia failing to efficiently carry out its plans and Ukraine seemingly holding up well, the real score behind the killing of civilians is left hanging. Russia has stood pat on not harming civilians but Ukraine says otherwise.

The Kremlin denies that it has invaded Ukraine, saying it is carrying out a "special military operation" to degrade the Ukrainian armed forces and is targeting military installations rather than carrying out strikes on civilian areas.