A Ukrainian government official accused a Russian solider on Monday of murdering Ukrainian civilians in several citing surrounding Kyiv, stealing their personal items and sending them back to his family in Russia.
"Here is the officer of russian special forces. He murdered and robbed civilians in Bucha, Irpin, and Hostomel. And now, he is sending all the stolen items to his family at one of BL post offices," Mykhailo Fedorov, who serves as the Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, wrote on Twitter.
The tweet continued, "There are thousands of them, but we will find every killer."
Here is the officer of russian special forces. He murdered and robbed civilians in Bucha, Irpin, and Hostomel. And now, he is sending all the stolen items to his family at one of BL post offices. There are thousands of them, but we will find every killer. pic.twitter.com/XDpU5mHb2I
— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) April 4, 2022
The claims made by Fedorov comes as Ukraine officials continue to accuse Russia of committing war crimes and "genocide" in Bucha, and other cities surrounding the nation's capital of Kyiv. Conflict continues to rage between Russia and Ukraine, with Ukrainian's ministry of defense recently claiming that Ukrainian military forces regained control of Kyiv, forcing Russian troops to retreat.
On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky traveled to Bucha and said, "These are war crimes and they will be recognized by the world as genocide."
He continued, "We are aware of thousands of people killed and tortured, with their limbs cut off. Raped women, murdered children. I believe this is genocide."
In addition to Zelensky, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko also accused Russia of committing "genocide."
The mayor of Bucha, Anatoly Fedoruk also made similar comments during an interview with CNN's New Day this morning, on which he said, "We get the impression that Russian occupiers got the green light from [Vladimir] Putin and the Russian defense minister to have a safari in Ukraine."
In a tweet on Sunday, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrote, "I am deeply shocked by the images of civilians killed in Bucha, Ukraine."
"It is essential that an independent investigation leads to effective accountability," Guterres added.
While speaking to reporters earlier on Monday, U.S. President Joe Biden called Russian President Vladimir Putin a "war criminal."
However, during a press conference later on Monday, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan stopped short of saying Russia committed genocide.
"We have seen atrocities, we have seen war crimes, we have not yet seen a level of systematic deprivation of life of the Ukrainian people to rise to the level of genocide," Sullivan said.
Newsweek has been unable to independently verify the claims made by Ukrainian officials in regard to crimes allegedly committed in Bucha.
Despite the claims made by Ukraine, Russian officials have denied any involvement. According to The Washington Post, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday that "another fake attack was launched in the city of Bucha."
"After the Russian military personnel left from there in accordance with plans and agreements, a few days later they staged this fake, which is being dispersed through all channels and social networks by Ukrainian representatives and their Western patrons," Lavrov said, according to the Post.
Newsweek reached out to ministries of foreign affairs in both Ukraine and Russia for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.
