Zelenskyy says Russian 'war crimes' in Ukraine make negotiations harder

Zelenskyy was terrified to see those who were massacred in Bucha allegedly by the Russians

By Edward Era Barbacena

BUCHA, Ukraine, April 4 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday it had become harder for his country to negotiate with Russia since Kyiv became aware of the scale of atrocities carried out by Russian troops in Ukraine.

Zelenskiy spoke on national television from the town of Bucha in the Kyiv region, where tied bodies shot at close range, a mass grave and other signs of executions have been found in territory retaken from Russian troops.

Moscow has denied any accusations related to the killing of civilians in Bucha. 

"These are war crimes and will be recognised by the world as genocide," Zelenskiy said, wearing body armour and surrounded by military personnel.

"It's very difficult to talk when you see what they've done here," he said. "The longer the Russian Federation drags out the negotiating process, the worse it is for them and for this situation and for this war."

"We know of thousands of people killed and tortured, with severed limbs, raped women and murdered children," he said.

After Zelenskiy spoke, Ukrainian officials took journalists to the basement of what they said was a summer residence for children and showed them the bodies of five men with their hands tied behind their backs.

The officials said the five people, who all wore civilian clothes, had been killed by occupying Russian soldiers before Ukrainian troops retook control of the town.