Putin sends 130,000 conscripts to war as evidence of civilian killings grows

A western official said yesterday that the move was "very odd" and appeared unplanned, indicating Putin's tactics in taking Ukraine had once again not gone as intended.

Despite promises from the Kremlin that only professional soldiers would be fighting in Ukraine, the official said there was a "realistic possibility" that the conscripts would end up there as well.

It comes as evidence of barbarism continues to emerge against the Russians, with global outrage sparked yesterday when shallow graves were discovered on the outskirts of Kyiv.

Ukraine’s prosecutor-general Iryna Venediktova said the bodies of 410 civilians have been removed from Kyiv-area towns recently retaken from Russian forces, while Associated Press journalists saw the bodies of at least 21 people in various spots around Bucha, northwest of Kyiv.

The head of the village of Motyzhyn, her husband and son were shot and buried in a shallow grave, an adviser to the Ukrainian interior ministry said yesterday, showing their partially covered bodies in the sand.

Since Russian troops withdrew from towns and villages around the Ukrainian capital last week, Ukrainian troops have been moving in, showing journalists corpses of what they say are civilians killed by Russian forces, destroyed houses and burnt out cars.

Moscow has denied targeting civilians and has said similar reports of killings were "staged" to sully Russia's name.

According to Reuters journalists, it has been difficult to determine who killed the family.

Anton Herashchenko, the Ukrainian interior ministry adviser, said: "There have been Russian occupiers here. They tortured and murdered the whole family of the village head,"

He named those killed as Olha Sukhenko, her husband Ihor Sukhenko and their son, Oleksandr.

"The occupiers suspected they were collaborating with our military, giving us locations of where to target our artillery. These scum tortured, slaughtered and killed the whole family. They will be responsible for this."he added.

A Reuters reporter saw the bodies in a forest near a farm, which had been all but destroyed, just outside the village of Motyzhyn.

Nearby a burnt out tractor could be seen and one of those buried in the sand had his head taped.

The reporter also saw another body of a man in a well near to the burnt out farm, where black scorch marks climbed up its few remaining walls. He appeared to have been tied up.

Vadym Tokar, head of the Makariv village council which neighbours Motyzhyn, told Reuters the family had been taken captive by Russian forces two to three days before the troops left.

"The bodies are still lying there, we can't get them out because there is a suspicion that they are mined," he said by telephone.

There has been international outcry over civilian deaths in Ukraine, including evidence of bound bodies shot at close range and a mass grave found in areas retaken from Russian troops, as artillery bombarded the country's south and east.

Boris Johnson said the discovery of more mass graves outside Kyiv was “sickening”.

The Prime Minister said: “The UK will not stand by whilst this indiscriminate and unforgivable slaughter takes place.

“We are working to ensure those responsible are held to account. We will not rest until justice is done."

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer added that Russian soldiers involved in war crimes in Ukraine should know “for the rest of their lives” they will be “chased down” and prosecuted.

He said: "It is so important that we stand united to say that Russia must be defeated, but on top of that, every single individual involved in these incidents in any way has to be held to account through the International Criminal Court.

“These are war crimes, that is what the court is there for.

“They need to know that for the rest of their lives they will be chased down and put before the international court so that justice can be done for the individuals, their families, their communities and their country.”

US President Joe Biden called for a war crimes trial against Putin following the discovery of mass graves in Bucha, and described the president as a "war criminal".

He said he would also be seeking more sanctions against Russia, adding: "You saw what happened in Bucha. "

Mr Biden’s comments came after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Bucha and saw for himself the devastation that had occurred.

Mr Zelenskyy called the Russian actions “genocide” and called for the West to apply tougher sanctions against the Kremlin.

Mr Biden, however, stopped short of calling the actions genocide.

He said: "We have to continue to provide Ukraine with the weapons they need to continue the fight, and we have to gather all the detail so this can be an actual… have a war crimes trial.

“What’s happening in Bucha is outrageous and everyone sees it."

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a tweet on Monday the European Union “is ready” to send investigators to Ukraine to help the local prosecutor general “document war crimes”.

Investigations into Mr Putin’s actions started before the new allegations of atrocities outside Kyiv.

There is another probe by the International Criminal Court, an independent body based in the Netherlands.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is pressing for allies to go further tackling Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying money is still flowing from the West to Vladimir Putin’s “war machine”.

During a meeting with her Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba in Warsaw, yesterday she said: “It is the responsibility of the UK and our allies, and that’s what Dmytro and I have discussed today, to step up our support for our brave Ukrainian friends.

“That means more weapons and more sanctions. Putin must lose in Ukraine. Later this week the G7 foreign ministers and the Nato foreign ministers will meet. We need to announce a tough new wave of sanctions.

“The reality is that money is still flowing from the West into Putin’s war machine – and that has to stop.”