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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russian forces of committing genocide as they retreated from Kyiv. Zelensky claimed that Russian troops were placing landmines around abandoned equipment, near dead bodies, and outside of homes in civilian areas surrounding the capital city.
"This is genocide," Zelensky said during an appearance on Face the Nation.
"We are the citizens of Ukraine, and we don't want to be subdued to the policy of [the] Russian Federation. This is the reason we are being destroyed and exterminated. And this is happening in the Europe of the 21st century," he added.
Zelensky's comments come following reports of a mass grave in the town of Bucha, which is on the outskirts of Kyiv. Bucha's mayor, Anatoliy Fedoruk, claimed that up to 300 people were buried on the grounds of the Church of St. Andrew and Pyervozvannoho All Saints.
Fedoruk claimed that Russian troops had bound and executed civilians, leaving their bodies in the streets. He showed a reporter from Reuters photographs of two bodies that had their hands tied with a white cloth. One of the victims appeared to have been shot in the mouth.
"Any war has some rules of engagement for civilians. The Russians have demonstrated that they were consciously killing civilians," Fedoruk said.