Russia faces growing outrage amid new evidence of atrocities

BUCHA, Ukraine (AP) — Russia faced a fresh wave of condemnation on Monday after evidence emerged of what appeared to be deliberate killings of civilians in Ukraine.

Some Western leaders called for further sanctions in response, even as Moscow continued to press its offensive in the country's east.

European allies, though united in outrage, appeared split on how to respond.

Poland, which is on Ukraine's border and has taken in large numbers of refugees, angrily singled out France and Germany for not taking more strident action and urged Europe to quickly wean itself off Russian energy, while Berlin said it would take a longer-term approach.

Ukrainian officials said the bodies of 410 civilians were found in towns around the capital, Kyiv, that were recaptured from Russian forces in recent days.

In Bucha, northwest of the capital, Associated Press journalists saw 21 bodies, including a group of nine in civilian clothes who appeared to have been shot at close range.

At least two had their hands tied behind their backs.

In Motyzhyn, to the west of Kyiv, AP journalists saw the bodies of four people who appeared to have been shot at close range and thrown into a pit. Residents said the mayor, her son, and her husband — who had been bound and blindfolded — were among them.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made his first reported foray outside the capital since the war began, visiting Bucha on Monday to meet with residents. There, he denounced the killings as “genocide” and “war crimes.”

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