Russian forces massacre civilians near Kyiv, then deny it (includes video story)

Russian missiles struck an oil refinery and fuel depot in the Ukrainian village of Bucha Sunday morning. Disturbing images and videos, after the attack, showed more than a dozen bodies wrapped in plastic bags and more scattered in the streets. 

Though Russia’s defense ministry denies culpability for such an attack, saying the extensive footage was staged by the Ukrainian government, Jens Stoltenberg, secretary general of NATO, said: “Bucha’s massacre is the most outrageous atrocity of the 21st century, We all refer to Bucha, but we should not forget about the other towns and villages in the Kyiv region which also became the crime scene of the Russian army.”

Kyiv officials say they estimate there are at least 150 people buried in a mass graveyard, however, the mayor of Bucha says the death toll could be much higher – at least 300.

In other news, senior Ukrainian defense officials claim they were able to retake more than 30 towns and villages around the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. However, NATO leaders say Ukraine should not let its guard down.

“I think there’s a lot of evidence that Putin is simply taking his troops out of the northern part of the country to redeploy them to the eastern part of the country to re-launch a battle there,” said White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain. “So I think there have been victories for the Ukrainians so far, but this war, sadly, is far from over.”

Caplin News Producer

Eugenia Scheuren is from Caracas, Venezuela and is pursuing her Bachelor’s degree for Mass Communication – Digital TV and Multimedia Production at Florida International University. Her goal is to work as a producer for a morning/late-night television show. She has a passion for history, photography, and filmmaking.