Russia guilty of over 400 war crimes in Kherson, Zelenksy says

‘We will find and bring to justice every murderer’

Russia guilty of over 400 war crimes in Kherson, Zelenksy says (AP)

President Volodymr Zelensky has said Russian soldiers committed over 400 war crimes in Kherson.

While Vladimir Putin’s forces retreated from the southern region last week, investigators uncovered “atrocities” that were left behind in the wake of their withdrawal.

In his nightly video address on Sunday, Mr Zelensky said: “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,” Mr Zelensky said in his nightly video address.

“We will find and bring to justice every murderer. Without a doubt.”

It comes after mass graves were discovered in Izyum, Bucha and Mariupol earlier this year.

The UN human rights commission concluded that war crimes had been committed in the war with Russian soldiers responsible for the “vast majority”.

Mass graves were found in Izyum earlier this year (Bel Trew)

Ukraine’s defence ministry also claimed that Russian troops ransacked Kherson’s cultural capital as they retreated, saying they “stole everything” including a raccoon from a zoo.

In a video posted on Twitter that appears to show a Russian serviceman putting raccoons in a cage, the ministry wrote: “The occupiers stole everything from Kherson: paintings from art galleries, antiquities from museums, historic manuscripts from libraries.

“But their most prized loot was a raccoon they stole from a zoo. Steal a raccoon and Die.”

Ukraine was previously cautious about publicly celebrating the liberation of Kherson for fears that Russia would wreak devastation as the forces left.

But this morning, the Ukrainian president visited Kherson and addressed emotional crowds.

“We are moving forward,” he told troops standing in formation in front of the administration building in the city’s main square. “We are ready for peace, peace for all our country.”

Ukraine's President Zelensky speaks in central Kherson (REUTERS)

Mr Zelensky thanked Nato and other allies for their support in the war against Russia and said the delivery of high mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS) from the United States had made a big difference for Kyiv.

Parents with children, some pushing baby strollers, also gathered in the main square. Some waved Ukrainian flags and others had the flag draped over their shoulders.

“I’m really happy, you can tell by the reaction of the people, their reaction is not staged,” he said in a comments witnessed by a Reuters correspondent in Kherson.

Asked where Ukrainian forces might advance next, he said: “Not Moscow... We’re not interested in the territories of another country.”