More than 100,000 Ukrainian civilians are believed to have been killed in the year since Russia launched its brutal invasion – more than 10 times the current official death toll – according to the country’s leading war crimes prosector.
The horrific tally illustrates the scale of devastation in the country, which has fought a relentless onslaught from Vladimir Putin’s forces since their invasion on 24 February last year.
Speaking to The Independent, prosecutor Yuriy Belousov revealed his fears about the human cost on the civilian population.
“There could be 100,000 civilians killed across Ukraine, whose bodies will have to be found and identified once occupied territory is liberated,” Mr Belousov said. The current official death toll published by the UN this week puts the official death toll at 8,000.
Mr Belousov said Russia’s ruthless assault had resulted in an unprecedented number of war crimes and the discovery of thousands of unidentified bodies, often in mass graves.
