Assessing The Russia's Behavior In Bucha As A War Crime, President Zelensky Calls Making Negotiations More Difficult

JAKARTA - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that it has become increasingly difficult for his country to negotiate with Russia since Kyiv realized the scale of atrocities committed by Russian troops in Ukraine.

Zelensky spoke on national television from the city of Bucha in the Kyiv region, where bound bodies were shot at close range, mass graves and other signs of execution were found in territory retaken from Russian troops.

"This is a war crime and will be recognized by the world as genocide," said President Zelensky, who came dressed in body armor and was surrounded by military personnel.

"It's really hard to talk when you see what they've done here," he said.

"The longer the Russian Federation drags on the negotiation process, the worse it will be for them and for this situation and for this war," he said.

"We know that thousands of people were killed and tortured, with limbs severed, women raped and children murdered," President Zelensky said.

After Zelenskiy spoke, Ukrainian officials led reporters into the basement of what they described as a summer residence for children, showing them the bodies of five men with their hands tied behind their backs.

Officials said five people, all wearing civilian clothes, had been killed by the occupying Russian army before Ukrainian forces retook control of the city.

"They were shot, shot in the head or in the chest. They were tortured before being killed," said Anton Herashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine's Interior Ministry.

"Now we are investigating this and we are showing it to the international press."

He said Russian soldiers had set up camp inside the building and stayed there for three weeks. Reuters was unable to independently verify his account.

Earlier, the deputy mayor of Bucha said on Sunday 50 residents had been victims of extra-judicial killings carried out by Russian troops.

In the immediate neighboring region of Stoianka, about 15 km south of Bucha, President Zelensky observed the damage to a highway bridge that was nearly split in two.

One car stood abandoned, bullet holes visible in the car body and windshield. A nearby housing estate was razed and billboards were vandalized with bullet holes.

Russia has denied targeting civilians since it invaded Ukraine on February 24 in what it called a "special military operation" aimed at the demilitarization and "denazification" of Ukraine. Ukraine said it had been attacked without provocation.

Separately, the Kremlin on Monday denied allegations related to the killing of civilians in Bucha.

"This information should be seriously questioned," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"From what we have seen, our experts have identified signs of video and other fakes," Peskov said.

It is understood that the destruction and civilian deaths in Bucha is likely to lead the United States and Europe to impose additional sanctions on Moscow, with officials raising the prospect of curbing Russia's energy exports.