Ukraine Launches Inquiries Into 4,684 Russian War Crimes

Ukraine says it is investigating thousands of cases of alleged Russian war crimes late Wednesday.

More than 4,500 alleged war crimes are now being investigated by Ukrainian prosecutors after appalling reports of atrocities committed in the Ukrainian town of Bucha came to the spotlight.

As of Tuesday, there were 4,468 potential war crimes under investigation, according to figures released by the prosecutor's office, and that number is rising by the hundreds every day.

The agency estimates that 167 children also died as a result of the Russian military actions in Ukraine.

Ukraine’s prosecutor general, Iryna Venediktova, described the recently liberated towns surrounding Kyiv as a tortured region from hell and pledged to punish those who set it up.

The prosecutor said; “Russia will be responsible for Bucha.

“Prosecutors and investigators are already examining the area and documenting crimes so that every perpetrator of these atrocities is brought to justice both in national and international courts.

“We are collecting evidence for the national courts and the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

"Evidence is no longer just war crimes, but crimes against humanity. And we will prove every fact to punish those who tortured, mocked, and destroyed Ukrainians."

The calls for war crimes investigations intensified after horrific photographs emerged of corpses on roads and in mass graves in Bucha.

Russia has denied responsibility and suggested the images are fake or that the deaths occurred after Russian forces pulled out of the area.

A number of countries demanded the probe, including Turkey and China, who called images of civilian deaths in the Ukrainian town deeply disturbing.