Russia launched what it deems to be the second phase of its war with Ukraine this week, leaving dozens of casualties in its wake. Ukrainian authorities discovered nine bodies of civilians outside the capital Kyiv, some of which showed signs of torture.
AFP reports nine bodies of civilians were discovered in the town of Borodyanka outside Kyiv, said a senior police official. This discovery follows previous reports of dead bodies left behind by Russian troops during their retreat, starting with the bodies found in Bucha, which led officials to accuse Russia of committing genocide.
“These people were killed by the occupiers, and some show signs of torture. I want to emphasize that these people were civilians. The Russian military knowingly shot civilians who did not put up any resistance,” said the head of police Andriy Niebytov. Niebytov added that the police discovered two graves around Borodyanka. Three people were found in one grave, including a 15-year-old girl, and the second grave had the bodies of six people.
Kyiv authorities said that the hundreds of bodies of civilians that were killed were in towns that were occupied by Russian forces at the early onset of the war.
The ongoing war against Ukraine has also led countries such as Sweden and Finland to consider joining the NATO alliance, a move that Russia has opposed and has warned the countries against making such a move. A new poll revealed that 51 percent of Swedes are in favor of the country joining NATO.
The poll comes amidst Sweden’s ruling party preparing to debate whether to abandon the country’s long-running neutral stance when it comes to military alignment. The poll was conducted by the Novus polling institute and showed that the result was higher than the 45 percent from a week ago.
Other polling institutes also showed similar results of support for the NATO alliance, but Novus said public opinion is being influenced by the NATO debate that is now underway in Finland, where lawmakers are debating on the issue following the publishing of a security policy white paper that took place last week.
Analysts predict that Finland may submit a bid to join NATO in time for the summit that will take place in June.