Summary
Shocking images of bodies of civilians in the streets of Bucha, near Kyiv, have led to an outpouring of international condemnation of Russia
US President Biden calls Vladimir Putin a war criminal – and says he should face trial over the incidents
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky - on a visit to Bucha - accuses Russian forces of committing genocide
The BBC has seen further evidence of civilian killings near Kyiv - a shallow grave where four people allegedly shot dead by Russian forces were buried
Downing Street says the attacks on civilians are "barbaric" and that the UK will push forward on more sanctions and military aid
Russia says it rejects "all allegations" and is claiming videos have been faked, without providing any evidence
Live Reporting
Edited by Jude Sheerin
Mayor warns Kyiv residents not to return yetpublished at 22:28 BST 4 April 2022
Civilians who fled Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, to safer regions should wait several more days before returning, the city's mayor, Vitaliy Klitschko, has said, according to Reuters.
"Firstly, there is currently a round-the-clock curfew in the Kyiv region," he was quoted as saying.
"Secondly, in certain towns near Kyiv, it's likely that Russian occupiers left landmines, and there are [likely] a lot of unexploded munitions."
Earlier, we reported that Klitschko brandedthe killings near the Ukrainian capital as horror scenes.
Authorities in the Brovary, Bucha and Vyshhorod districts of the wider Kyiv region have also said that a curfew will remain in place until April 7, Ukrainian media report.
They said that Ukrainian forces would spend the coming days clearing the area of "explosive 'surprises' left behind by the invaders".
Image source,.No civilians harmed in Bucha, claims Russia's UN ambassadorpublished at 21:30 BST 4 April 2022
Russia’s ambassador to UN has insisted no civilians were harmed during the month-long Russian occupation of the Ukrainian town of Bucha - and accused Ukraine of fabricating evidence.
As we've been reporting,the bodies of dozens of civilians as well as a mass grave have been found following the withdrawal of Russian troops.
But, speaking at a press conference in New York, Vasily Nebenzia said it was "staged provocation" by Western countries.
He also accused the UK of "unprecedented abuse" in its role this month as president of the UN Security Council, said it was refusing to allow Russia to bring the Bucha incidents up.
The BBC has verified footage in Bucha in recent days and found the bodies in the streets would have been there for a number of days, and while the town was under Russian control.
The BBC's Yogita Limaye visited the basement of a home in Bucha where the bodies of five men wearing civilian clothes were left. They had their hands bound behind their backs and appeared to have been shot.
She also saw a shallow grave in the village of Motyzhyn - west of Kyiv - that contained the bodies of four people allegedly shot dead by Russian forces.
World leaders promise action after Buchapublished at 21:12 BST 4 April 2022
Paul Adams
BBC Diplomatic correspondentA weekend of appalling images and harrowing stories has triggered a fresh wave of international outrage, and, inevitably, talk of more sanctions.
No concrete announcements yet, butJoe Biden said those were coming and that he’d been right, in mid-March, to condemn Vladimir Putin in the harshest terms.
War crimes trials may have to wait, but leaders agree new sanctions are needed. France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, has called for more measures to target Russian oil and coal.
Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said Mr Putin and his supporters would, in his words, “feel the consequences” of what happened in Bucha. The economy minister, Robert Habeck, said Germany was working towards an embargo on Russian energy, but that it couldn’t happen immediately.
The small Baltic republic of Lithuania is leading the way. After years of reducing its heavy reliance on Russian gas, its government announced, on Sunday, that imports had finally been reduced to zero. "If we can do it," the country’s president said, "the rest of Europe can too".
The UK's foreign secretary, Liz Truss, said tough new sanctions will be announced at a meeting of G7 foreign ministers later this week.
After meeting her Ukrainian counterpart in Warsaw, she said these would include banning Russian ships from western ports, cracking down further on Russian banks and going after new industries which she said were filling Mr Putin’s war chest, including gold.
Fact-checking Russian claims about Bucha killingspublished at 20:44 BST 4 April 2022
Image source,Getty ImagesSince the withdrawal of Russian troops from Bucha, horrific images of bodies lying in the streets and accounts of killings have emerged.
The reports have sparked widespread condemnation and the United Nations has called for an independent investigation into what happened in the town.
Ukraine accused Russia of a "deliberate massacre" but Russia called it "a staged provocation by the Kyiv regime".
It made a series of unfounded claims about the footage from Bucha, including that people shown are not actually dead and that no civilians in Bucha were harmed.
The BBC has fact checked the claims. Read thefull report here.
France to expel Russian diplomatspublished at 19:55 BST 4 April 2022
France is the latest country to decide to expel Russian diplomatic staff, after its foreign ministry announced it was expelling many Russian diplomats.
"Their actions go against our national security interests," the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
"This move is part of a European initiative."
The French news agency AFP quoted a source close to the Foreign Ministry as saying 35 people would be expelled.
It follows a similar decision taken by Germanywhich expelled 40 Russian envoys over the killings of civilians in Bucha, near Ukraine's capital Kyiv.
Bucha should be a game changer in West's support, says Ukrainian foreign ministerpublished at 19:30 BST 4 April 2022
HARDtalk
BBC News programmeMedia caption, Ukraine war: Bucha massacre is a game changer - Ukraine foreign minister
The killings in Bucha should be a "game changer" for the support the West is willing to provide Ukraine, the country's foreign minister has said.
Speaking to the BBC's Hardtalk programme, Dmytro Kuleba said: "The Bucha massacre shouldremove any kind of hesitation and reluctance in the West to provide Ukrainewith all necessary weapons... to defend our country and to free it from theRussian occupants."
He said additional support should include planes, tanks, multiple launch rocket systems, and armoured vehicles as well as a strengthening of sanctions against Russia.
Kuleba added that the outcome of the war would be decided not only on the battleground, but in the "offices in Europe andNorth America" where decisions about the level of additional support will be taken.
"I'm ready to exchange every word of sympathyand admiration for a tank or a plane that will help me, or or an embargo on gasand oil that will help me to save human lives in Ukraine," he said.
'Heroes don't die' - Murdered family rememberedpublished at 18:41 BST 4 April 2022
Emily McGarvey
BBC News Live reporter
Image source,FacebookImage caption, Olha Sukhenko, her son Oleksander and husband Igor were found dead more than a week after going missing
As we've been reporting, a family who disappeared in their village west of Kyiv last month have been found dead in a shallow grave.
Our correspondent, Yogita Limaye,visited the site, located in a wood near destroyed homes.
Olha Sukhenko, her husband Igor and her son Oleksanderare alleged to have been shot dead by Russian soldiers. A fourth body was also found but has not been identified.
Russian forces took Olha - who served as the head of her village of Motyzhyn - and her family from their home on 23 March, an investigation by the Ukrainian chief prosecutor found.
In Olha's last Facebook post before her death, posted in late February after the Russian invasion, she talked about there being "someone else's scum in our village" and warned residents to keep calm and not to leave their houses.
Two days after the family were allegedly disappeared by Russian forces, a woman called Daria appealed on social media for information on their whereabouts, saying they were her "second family" and "helped people to the end".
She said Russian forces had stolen Oleksander's car and were "riding around the village".
After it emerged that the family had been killed, Daria postedan update:
I don't have enough words and strength to describe how I and mywhole family feel.
This is a crime - in every sense. All involved will beappearin court.
Referring to Oleksander, she wrote:
Sasha, myHero.You didn't leave your parents behind. You will forever be in my heart. In ourhearts. Heroes don't die.
Nothing is off the table - European commissioner on sanctionspublished at 18:16 BST 4 April 2022
We've been hearing about the possibility of more sanctions against Russia in response to discoveries of civilian killings in northern Ukraine.
New European sanctions could include measures targeting the Russian energy sector, according to European Commissioner for Economy, Paolo Gentiloni.
"Nothing is off the table and I think that this is more true now than ever," he said before a meeting with eurozone finance ministers to discuss possible new sanctions.
Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron called for further sanctionstargeting Russia's coal and oil exports, telling French media there were “clear indications of war crimes".
He did not mention targeting Russian gas, which accounts forabout 40% of the EU's natural gas imports.
Image source,.
