War in Ukraine: Fleeing troops hid bombs inside washing machines

Russian troops hid bombs in washing machines and the boots of cars as they retreated from around Kyiv, Ukraine has claimed as it ­uncovered further evidence of atrocities.

Ukrainian Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky. Picture: AFP

Russian troops hid bombs in washing machines and the boots of cars as they retreated from around Kyiv, Ukraine has claimed as it ­uncovered further evidence of atrocities.

Denys Monastyrsky, the Ukrainian Interior Minister, said Russian troops had targeted the homes of state employees, hiding explosive booby-traps in their ­vehicles and homes.

“Wherever the occupiers stayed overnight, they would set up tripwires – both at the doorstep and by the fences,” he told Ukrainian television. “Our people are now also finding explosives in houses and apartments where Ukrainian police officers, rescuers and military servicemen live.”

Another mass grave, containing 50 bodies, was found at a petrol station in Buzova, a town about 35km from Kyiv.

“More than 50 people were killed on the road from Berezivka to Dmitrivka. They were shot at point-blank range,” said Lyudmila Zakabluk, a resident interviewed on Ukrainian television.

“There’s a car where a 17-year-old boy was burnt to death – only his bones remain. A woman’s head was also blown off. Another man was burnt to death.”

Images shared on pro-Ukrain­ian Telegram social media channels show the charred pages of hundreds of Bibles, apparently burnt in Irpin, a suburb of Kyiv.

Lesia Vasylenko, a Ukrainian MP, claimed last week that girls as young as 10 had been raped by the invading troops in Irpin and Bucha, a neighbouring town where Russia has been accused of perpetrating war crimes.

In total, 1222 bodies have been discovered in the Kyiv region, ­according to Iryna Venediktova, Ukraine’s prosecutor-general.

She said she had opened cases into 5600 alleged war crimes.

The Times