Maksym Ocheretianyi declined to identify the suspects during a special media briefing on Monday, saying only that some individuals who may have been “involved in collaborating with the enemy” were recently alerted to suspicion. Butsa, a small community outside Kyiv, has been the scene of some of the most horrific atrocities committed against civilians in the two months since Russian forces invaded Ukraine. Moscow denies that its troops carried out the massacre there or in other nearby communities, such as Borodyanka. Alleged co-operation cases are still under investigation, and Ocheretianyi will not speculate on whether the investigations could lead to charges. The fate of the accused will be “decided by the court,” he said. Ukraine’s Attorney General Irina Venediktova said Sunday that 15 cases of collusion could be prosecuted in the country’s capital. That’s less than the number of suspected traitors the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) said it was pursuing last month. Artyom Dehtyarenko, a spokesman for the SBU, told the local Kyiv Independent newspaper that 33 alleged collaborators had been located throughout the Kiev region. The SBU, the national and local police, the Ukrainian army’s territorial defense units and the State Emergency Service say they are working together to find suspicious accomplices and possibly prosecute them for treason. When Russian troops pushed them to the edge of Kiev in early March, they allegedly carried lists of names and addresses of people to be arrested during the occupation – possibly killed in a violation of Ukraine’s car insurance register in early January, a crime in cyberspace recently revealed by authorities. They also worked with locals who liked Moscow. In February, the United States said it had “credible information” that Russian forces were compiling lists of Ukrainians to be killed or imprisoned in the event of an occupation. Collaborators may have been involved in helping to identify people wanted by the Russians, or they could have identified Ukrainian military positions.

Murder in a war zone

The war has unleashed a series of crimes that may have nothing to do with the atrocities committed by the Russians, Ocheretianyi said, and efforts are under way to separate these investigations from the effects of the war. For example, up to 114 people have been notified of suspected murder, he said. “Unfortunately, we have such evidence, but, you know, our responsibility as law enforcement is to identify such people and bring them to justice,” Ocheretianyi said in a statement Monday. Venediktova said her office was investigating 9,158 criminal cases related to “pure war crimes”. Her team uncovered the first allegations of war crimes last week against members of the Russian military. Valentyna Nechyporenko, 77, mourns at the grave of her 47-year-old son, Ruslan, during his funeral in a Bucha cemetery on the outskirts of Kiev on April 18, 2022. (Emilio Morenatti / The Associated Press)
Three weeks ago, the RCMP announced that it would assist the Ukrainian authorities by interviewing those who fled to Canada about what they saw. Britain, France and other allies this week sent investigators to assist in the investigation and promised to use information to link specific Russian military commanders to specific crimes. Ocheretianyi said authorities had recovered the bodies of 1,202 civilians from the Kiev region so far, but identifying the remains could be difficult. Eight mass graves have been discovered in the area. “These are locals, innocent citizens, our citizens,” Ocheretianyi said. “These corpses have clear signs of torture. Not only are their hands tied … they also have [shot] on their feet. They were killed by [being shot] in their head. “This barbarity, this cruelty terrifies the police and the public.” CLOCKS The first citizens emerged from the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol on Monday:

Trapped residents leave Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, Ukraine

About 100 people, most of them trapped underground at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, Ukraine, escaped through a safe corridor. 0:58