CNN team witnesses removal of bodies from Bucha’s basement

Ukrainian officials have shown international media that five bodies have been recovered from a vault in BuchaA suburb of Kyiv recently retaken by Ukrainian forces.

The CNN team visited the basement and saw the bodies before they were removed. They were in an advanced stage of decomposition.

An adviser to Ukraine’s Interior Minister Anton Gerashchenko told CNN on the ground that five men were tortured and executed by Russian soldiers. CNN cannot independently verify Gerashchenko’s allegations.

The men were found in an area controlled by the Russian army until a few days ago. Several trenches, trenches and armored posts remained visible around the site, as well as remnants of Russian rations. Several “V”-shaped letters – unofficial symbols of the Russian military campaign – were also drawn at the entrance to the territory.

The hands of the dead were tied behind their backs, and most of them had several gunshot wounds, not only to the head, but also to the lower limbs. There were several cartridge cases on the floor next to the corpses.

Volunteers removed the bodies and placed them in bags that were later transported.

One volunteer told CNN they were picking up bodies in droves, saying, “It’s in the hundreds, not dozens.” The volunteer and his unit showed CNN the body bags of at least 30 people recovered on Sunday, as well as nine others on Monday, including the five found in the basement.

This unit is one of several operating on the outskirts of Kyiv.