Ukrainian authorities have found evidence of war crimes in Kherson after retaking the key southern city this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday.
"Investigators have already documented more than 400 Russian war crimes, the bodies of both civilians and military personnel are being found," Zelenskyy said in an address.
"In the Kherson region, the Russian army left behind the same atrocities as in other regions of our country, where it was able to enter."
Russian forces took Kherson, a major industrial center on the Dnieper River, in the early days of the war as they pushed north from the Crimean Peninsula.
Ukrainians soldiers challenged Russians in the area for months, first with acts of sabotage and more recently with a full-blown counteroffensive that successfully allowed them to retake the city this week.
WITH RUSSIA'S RETREAT FROM KHERSON, RUSSIA AND UKRAINE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO NEGOTIATE PEACE
Russia's retreat from Kherson marks a major setback for Putin, who moved to annex the region just weeks ago.
Evidence of war crimes has been uncovered in other parts of Ukraine as Russian soldiers pulled back.
Hundreds of Ukrainian civilians were found murdered in Bucha, Ukraine, after Russia pulled out of the Kyiv suburb in April. In the eastern city of Izyum, a mass grave site was discovered in September with several burn pits containing around 1,100 partially burned bodies.
