Amnesty: evidence shows Russian war crimes

STORY: Civilians also suffered abuses such as "reckless shootings and torture" at the hands of Russian forces during their failed onslaught on Kyiv in the early stages of the invasion launched by the Kremlin on February 24, the rights group said in a report.

"The evidence we have gathered since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in late February 2022, it implicates Russian military forces in serious violations of international law, including extrajudicial killings, disproportionate and indiscriminate attacks against civilians, including in densely populated areas," Amnesty's secretary general, Agnes Callamard, told a news conference in Kyiv.

Russia, which calls its invasion a "special operation" to disarm Ukraine and protect it from fascists, denies its forces committed abuses. Kyiv and its Western backers say the fascism claim is a false pretext for an unprovoked war of aggression.

The Amnesty report is the latest to document alleged war crimes committed by Russian forces when they occupied an area northwest of Kyiv, including the town of Bucha, where Ukrainian authorities say more than 400 civilians were killed. Moscow withdrew its troops in early April.

The report concluded that Russian troops had committed a "host of apparent war crimes" in Bucha, including "numerous unlawful killings," most of them near the intersection of Yablunska and Vodoprovidna streets.

Amnesty said it had documented 22 cases of unlawful killing by Russian forces - "most of which were apparent extrajudicial executions" - in Bucha and nearby areas.

Asked by Reuters before the Amnesty report about Russia's operation in Bucha, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "The Bucha story is a set-up and a fake."