What happened in Bucha, Ukraine? Everything you need to know

Horrific images and videos of mass killings in Ukraine's north-western city of Bucha have sent shockwaves across the world. Ukraine has claimed that over 400 bodies in civilian clothing that were scattered in the streets and piled in mass graves have been recovered.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has claimed that Russian troops carried out horrific war crimes that included shooting citizens at point-blank.

According to the media reports, Bucha mayor Anatoly Fedoruk claimed that many bodies were seen lying on the streets of Bucha in civilian clothing. The mayor had further revealed that all the people were killed by getting shot in the back of their heads. All the victims were adult men and women, but a 14-year-old boy was also seen among the dead.

Bucha is a city the north-western side of Ukraine that has a population of only 36,000 people. It is claimed that Russian troops attacked these people when they invaded the city.

As the horrific reports and the pictures emerged over the weekend, NATO leaders condemned the atrocities and have called for tougher sanctions against Moscow.

Russia, however, has denied all the allegations and has blamed Ukrainian forces for firing on civilians in Bucha city near Kiev and alleged that it is provoking the Russians for posting videos and pictures as it claimed that it had withdrawn on March 30.

“We would like to emphasise that all Russian units withdrew completely from Bucha as early as March 30, the day after the Russia-Ukraine face-to-face round of talks in Turkey,” a statement from Russian Defence Ministry said.

It said that as long as the city was under the control of the Russian armed forces, locals in Bucha were moving freely.