Situation in second Ukrainian town 'more dreadful' than Bucha, says Zelenskyy

Ukrainian president says there are even more bodies in nearby Borodyanka

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Thursday that the situation in the town of Borodyanka was “significantly more dreadful” than in nearby Bucha, where the suspected killing of civilians by Russian forces has been roundly condemned.

Officials have said that more than 300 people were killed by the Russians in Bucha, 35 kilometres north-west of the capital Kyiv. Among them were 50 who were executed, they said.

Moscow has denied attacking civilians and says images of bodies in Bucha were staged by the Ukrainian government to justify more sanctions against Moscow and derail peace negotiations.

“The work to clear the rubble in Borodyanka has begun … it's significantly more dreadful there,” Mr Zelenskyy said in a video posted on the Telegram messaging service. “Even more victims from the Russian occupiers.”

The town is about 25 kilometres from Bucha.

He did not provide any further details or evidence that Russia was responsible for civilian deaths in the town.

Nato foreign ministers meet in Brussels to discuss the latest in the continuing Russia-Ukraine war. AFP

People take part in a protest against the transport of cargo to Russia and Belarus near the Polish-Belarusian border crossing in Koroszczyn, eastern Poland. EPA

A Ukrainian naval vessel, thought to be the ‘Donbas’ and a nearby building burn in the besieged city of Mariupol. AP

Bucha resident Tetiana Ustymenko weeps over the grave of her son, buried in the garden of her house, in Bucha, north-west of Kyiv. AFP

People charge their mobile phones in a public building in Bucha. AFP

People from Mariupol leave a train to be taken to temporary residences in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. AP

Vladyslava Liubarets, a Bucha resident, cries as she hugs her sister whom she had not seen since the beginning of the Russian invasion, in Bucha, the town which was retaken by the Ukrainian army. EPA

Local citizen Oleksandr, 55, looks at the grave of his neighbour in the backyard of his private house in Hostomel in Kyiv. EPA

Debris of a rocket missile on the field near Kyiv. EPA

The mother of Ukrainian soldier Lubomyr Hudzeliak, who was killed during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, mourns during his funeral in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. AFP

A woman takes care of a baby at a shelter in the Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk in Donbas region. AFP

Residents gather outside a shelter in the city of Severodonetsk. AFP

Residents in eastern Ukraine, including the city of Severodonetsk in Donbas region, have been asked by their government to leave 'now' or 'risk death'. AFP

A young girl with her dog arrives at a centre for the displaced in Zaporizhzhia, north-west of Mariupol. AFP

A damaged ambulance in Hostomel, on the outskirts of Kyiv. Reuters

A bomb crater left behind by Russia's attack on the Ukrainian village of Demydiv, on the outskirts of Kyiv. Reuters

Russian attacks have reduced Hotel Ukraine in Chernihiv to debris. Reuters

Oleksii Shcherbo, 98, near his burnt house in the village of Sloboda, on the outskirts of Chernihiv. Reuters

Residents walk past destroyed Russian military machinery on the street, in Bucha, the town which was retaken by the Ukrainian army, north-west of Kyiv. EPA

Damaged National flags flutter in the wind on a cemetry of Chernihiv city which was blocked by Russian troops for a long time. EPA

Demonstrators lie down on the ground in tribute to the people killed in Russia's war against Ukraine, in Berlin, Germany. AP

A Ukrainian firefighter works at the site of a burning fuel storage facility ignited by an air strike, in Dnipropetrovsk. Reuters

A woman before and after she was removed by rescuers from debris after a military strike on the town of Rubizhne, Luhansk. Reuters

People wait for help to evacuate Derhachi. Reuters

Pope Francis, in Vatican, holds a Ukrainian flag given to him by a delegation from the town of Bucha, where dozens of bodies had been found. EPA

State emergency servicemen clear shells near Chernigiv, northern Ukraine. AFP

US war veteran Steven Straub shows his tattoo of the Ukrainian flag while on patrol near Buda-Babynetska, north of Kyiv, days after Russian forces retreated from the area. AFP

Candles are arranged in the shape of Ukraine by the monument to the poet Taras Shevchenko in the western city Lviv. AFP

A teddy bear hangs from a tree branch outside an apartment building in Borodyanka, Kyiv oblast. AP

A woman carries her cat as she walks past buildings that were destroyed by Russian shelling, in Borodyanka. Reuters

Dmitriy Evtushkov, 25, points to his picture in a primary school album retrieved from the rubble of a block of flats. AP

Technicians try to fix the internet in Bucha. AP

A smashed mobile phone lies next to a Russian army ration book in Bucha. AP

A woman and children after their arrival at a centre for displaced persons in Zaporizhzhia, about 200 kilometres north-west of Mariupol. AFP

A man leaves a damaged pharmacy after a bombing that killed several civilians, in Mykolaiv. AP

Ukrainian soldiers sing a patriotic song with buildings in the background that were destroyed during fighting in Borodyanka. AP

Borodyanka residents carry humanitarian aid packages. Reuters

Elderly Ukrainians shelter in a basement in Kharkiv, in eastern Ukraine. EPA

Destroyed apartment buildings in Borodyanka. Reuters

Relatives and friends are overwhelmed with emotions as they stand next to the coffin of Anatoly German during his funeral. AP

The killings of civilians in the town of Bucha have been widely condemned by the West as war crimes, building pressure for stricter sanctions against Russia.

“And what will happen when the world learns the whole truth about what the Russian military did in Mariupol?” Mr Zelenskyy asked.

“There, on almost every street, is what the world saw in Bucha and other towns in the Kyiv region after the withdrawal of Russian troops.”

Moscow says one of the aims of its military campaign is to “liberate” largely Russian-speaking places such as the southern port of Mariupol from Ukrainian nationalists, who it says have used civilians as human shields.

Mr Zelenskyy has rejected those claims, saying they are a baseless pretext for Russia's invasion.